Bror Henry Lindblad (25 February 1906 – 28 September 1946) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

pole vault 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 Myc ...

er and decathlete. The first Swede to vault four metres or more, he was Swedish pole vault champion seven times and AAA champion three times. At the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad ( nl, Spelen van de IXe Olympiade) and commonly known as Amsterdam 1928, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

he competed in the pole vault and

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in Athletics (sport), athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek language, Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ...

, finishing in the top ten in both events.

Career

Henry Lindblad won the first of his seven Swedish pole vault titles in 1925. In 1927 he won the

AAA Championships The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the officia ...

, clearing 3.81 m. In July 1928, ahead of the Olympics, he jumped 3.92 m in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, his first Swedish record. At the Olympics Lindblad took part in both the

and the

. He was the best European in the pole vault, clearing 3.90 m and placing seventh. In the decathlon he was ninth, scoring 7071.425 points (5906 with modern scoring tables). Although he was a specialist, he did not win the decathlon pole vault as he only managed 3.60 m; he did, however, win the decathlon

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

with a leap of 6.97 m. After returning home he improved his Swedish pole vault record to 4.00 m, the first Swede and only the third European (after

Charles Hoff Charles Hoff (9 May 1902 – 19 February 1985) was a Norwegian athlete, coach, sports journalist, novelist and sports administrator. As an active athlete he competed in pole vault, long jump, triple jump, sprints and middle distance running ...

and

Henry Petersen Henry Petersen (1 October 1900 – 24 September 1949) was a Danish athlete. He competed in the pole vault at the 1920 and 1924 Olympics and won a silver medal in 1920, placing fourth in 1924. Petersen won the national pole vault title in 1920� ...

) to vault four metres or more. He also won his second Swedish title that year. In 1930 Lindblad won both the Swedish and British pole vault championships, a feat he repeated in 1931. He set his eventual personal best (4.13 m) in winning the 1931 Finnkampen, holding the Swedish record until

Bo Ljungberg Bo Alexander Ljungberg (21 November 1911 – 19 March 1984) was a Swedish athlete. He won two silver medals in the pole vault at the European Championships and competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics as both a pole vaulter and a triple jumper. Care ...

cleared 4.15 m four years later. Lindblad won further Swedish titles in 1933, 1936 and 1937 and placed seventh at the inaugural

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

in 1934.

References

External links

Profile
1906 births 1946 deaths People from Södermanland Swedish male pole vaulters Swedish decathletes Athletes (track and field) at the 1928 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Sweden {{Sweden-athletics-bio-stub