Erki Nool (born 25 June 1970, in

Võru Võru (; vro, Võro; german: Werro) is a town and a municipality in south-eastern Estonia. It is the capital of Võru County and the centre of Võru Parish. History Võru was founded on 21 August 1784, according to the wish of the Empress Cather ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

) is an

n decathlete and former

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

Life and career

Nool grew up in an impoverished environment in the southern part of Võru. His father was a worker in a furniture factory and his mother was in charge of the finances of a school. There were six children, with Erki the third youngest. When he was 13, from the suggestion of his father he moved to a sports-focused boarding school. There he could eat a warm meal three times a day for free. In those days the economy was in a poor condition. When traveling to competitions they didn't even get their own cabin in the cruise ship but instead just slept in the hallways and then competed and trained the next day. They also didn't even have winter athletics training facilities. Nool was brought to tears when he was gifted a new, pristine pair of sneakers. Getting to eat

yogurt Yogurt (; , from tr, yoğurt, also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yogurt are known as ''yogurt cultures''. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bac ...

every morning was also new and memorable. After Estonia became independent on 20 August 1991, Nool was vocal about his dream of competing in the Olympics as part of the Estonian team. He took part in the Barcelona 1992 Summer Olympics decathlon but he ended up having to stop and pull out. Little by little he developed and by the mid-1990s he was among the top athletes in decathlon. In September 1997 he established the first private athletics school in Estonia. When he won gold for decathlon at the 1998 Budapest European Championships, he became a sports hero. Two years later, when he won the gold medal for decathlon in the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

in Sydney, he became a national hero. Although Nool did not place first in any individual event, his total score was the highest. Nool won the title after the competition referee decided to over-rule a discus judge, who had red-flagged his last and only valid attempt due to alleged step-out. The reinstatement of his 43.66-metre third throw sparked unsuccessful counter-protests from other teams. Nool took gold ahead of the

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

Roman Šebrle Roman Šebrle (; born 26 November 1974) is a retired decathlete from the Czech Republic. He is considered to be one of the best decathlon athletes of all time. Originally a high jumper, he later switched to the combined events and is a former worl ...

and American

Chris Huffins Chris Huffins (born 15 April 1970) is an athlete from the United States who competed in the field of Decathlon. He was the Director and Head Coach of the Men's and Women's Track and Field and Cross Country programs at the University of Californi ...

. He has been voted as Estonia's sexiest man and in the 2000s the most popular Estonian. In 2006, Nool participated as a celebrity contestant on the first season of ''

Tantsud tähtedega ''Tantsud tähtedega'' ( Estonian: ''Dancing with the Stars'') is an Estonian television reality show that aired on Kanal 2 and season six on TV3. It debuted on 8 October 2006, and it became a popular television show in Estonia. It is based o ...

'', an Estonian version of '' Dancing with the Stars''. His professional dancing partner was Ave Vardja. 2005–2017, Erki Nool was the Vice Chairman of the EOC Athletes Commission and 2007–2011 member of the

European Athletics The European Athletic Association (more commonly known as European Athletics) is the governing body for athletics in Europe. It is one of the six Area Associations of the world's athletics governing body World Athletics. European Athletics has 51 ...

Development Committee. 2008–2012, he was also member of the executive committee of the

Estonian Olympic Committee The Estonian Olympic Committee ( et, Eesti Olümpiakomitee) (EOK) is responsible for the Estonia's participation in the Olympic Games. History The Estonian Sports Federation ( et, Eesti Spordi Liit) decided to form the Estonian Olympic Committe ...

. On 4 March 2007, Nool was elected to the Estonian Parliament, the ''

Riigikogu The Riigikogu (; from Estonian ''riigi-'', of the state, and ''kogu'', assembly) is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. In addition to approving legislation, the Parliament appoints high officials, including the Prime Minister and Chief Just ...

'', representing the

Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica Isamaa is a Christian-democratic and national-conservative political party in Estonia. It was founded on 4 June 2006 under the name of "Pro Patria and Res Publica Union", by the merger of two conservative parties, Pro Patria Union and Res Publi ...

. He has since left politics and now focuses on his real estate business and athletics school, with 450 students. His son Robin Nool (born in 1998) is

pole vaulter Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the My ...

with a record of 5.40 m.

Achievements

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nool, Erki 1970 births Living people People from Võru Sportspeople from Võru Estonian decathletes Estonian sportsperson-politicians Olympic athletes of Estonia Olympic gold medalists for Estonia Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Isamaa politicians World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) 21st-century Estonian politicians World Athletics Championships athletes for Estonia Goodwill Games medalists in athletics Members of the Riigikogu, 2007–2011 Members of the Riigikogu, 2011–2015 Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games