Joachim Brøchner Olsen (born 31 May 1977) is a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

former politician and former world class

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

ter. He was elected to the Danish parliament at the 2011 election, representing the Liberal Alliance in the Greater Copenhagen constituency. As an athlete, he represented

Århus 1900 Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

. With ten straight international finals, Joachim holds the longest string of appearances in finals at Olympic,

World In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

and European Championships among throwers. From October 2003, Olsen was coached by former olympic finalist Vesteinn Hafsteinsson. From February 2007 until Joachim B. Olsen ended his career in July 2009, Olsen was coached by Simon Patrick Stewart.

Athletic career

Olsen was born in

Aalborg Aalborg (, , ) is Denmark's fourth largest town (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an urban population of 143,598 (1 July 2022). As of 1 July 2022, the Municipality of Aalb ...

. In his

teens Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the ...

Joachim primarily focused on the discus throw, but after switching

technique from the glide style to rotational style, he improved dramatically during his four years at

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho. It is the state's land-grant and primary research university,, and the lead university in the Idaho Space Grant Consortium. The University ...

, where he was coached by Tim Taylor. Although he appeared at the World Junior Championships in Sydney 1996, where he threw the Discus, it was at the U23 European Championships in

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

in 1999 he made his first international impact, winning a silver medal. At 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 1 ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Olsen did not qualify for the final. Nevertheless, he received worldwide attention after he wrote in a chat room that the winner of the final,

Arsi Harju Arsi Ilari Harju (born March 18, 1974) is a Finnish former track and field athlete who competed in the shot put. He won the gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. He set his personal best of 21.39 in the qualification. In the final, Ha ...

had failed a

doping test A drug test is a technical analysis of a biological specimen, for example urine, hair, blood, breath, sweat, or oral fluid/saliva—to determine the presence or absence of specified parent drugs or their metabolites. Major applications of drug ...

. The rumour was false, and the incident caused the Danish

National Olympic Committee A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games ...

to send Joachim B. Olsen home prior to the closing of the Games. At the

2001 World Championships in Athletics The 8th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada between 3 August and 12 August and was the first time the event ...

, Olsen qualified for his first international final. Since then he has qualified for every final at Olympic, World and European Championships. In 2002 Olsen won the silver medal at the European Championships outdoor as well as indoor. In 2003 a hand injury held him back, but a revised training plan removed the pain in his wrist. Thus Olsen was ready for a comeback in 2004, and at the

2004 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 10th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) were held in the Budapest Arena, Hungary between March 5 and March 7, 2004. A total off 139 countries were re ...

he won a Bronze medal - a placement he repeated at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

in Athens. But because of a positive doping of the gold medalist

Yuri Bilonog Yuriy Bilonoh ( uk, Юрій Білоног, also romanized as Yuriy Bilonog; born March 9, 1974) is a Ukrainian shot putter. Biography Born in Bilopillia, Sumy Oblast, he began athletics at a Children and Youth Sports School A sports school ...

(

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

), which caused the cancellation of the medal, Olsen inherited the silver medal after the announcement of redistributing medals. On 6 November 2005 Olsen injured his right ankle during practise. Several

ligaments A ligament is the fibrous connective tissue that connects bones to other bones. It is also known as ''articular ligament'', ''articular larua'', ''fibrous ligament'', or ''true ligament''. Other ligaments in the body include the: * Peritoneal li ...

were either torn or severely damaged. On 6 February 2006 he announced, that the injury had healed sufficiently for him to compete again at highest level. A month later, at the World Indoor Championships, he managed to win a bronze medal with a throw of 21.16 metres. On 8 August 2008 at the

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

of the Beijing Olympics, Olsen was the

flagbearer A standard-bearer, also known as a flag-bearer is a person (soldier or civilian) who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a f ...

for

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. He failed to reach the final. In 2008 Joachim Olsen became well known in the Danish publicity by his participation in, and winning of, the fifth season of the Danish version of

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...

. On 22 July 2009, he announced his withdrawal from shot putting, saying that while he had a dream of competing at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, his physical condition would not allow it. He suffered a

slipped disc Spinal disc herniation is an injury to the cushioning and connective tissue between vertebrae, usually caused by excessive strain or trauma to the spine. It may result in back pain, pain or sensation in different parts of the body, and physic ...

in April 2009.

Political career

As part of his campaign for the 2019 general election, Olsen placed his ad on adult website Pornhub. Olsen failed to gain the necessary to continue in the general election.

Achievements

References

External links

Personal website

Danish Athletics Federation
- profile - Joachim Olsen
University of Idaho - Vandal Athletics Hall of Fame
- Joachim Olsen * {{DEFAULTSORT:Olsen, Joachim B. Danish male shot putters Danish sportsperson-politicians Olympic athletes of Denmark Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Denmark Liberal Alliance (Denmark) politicians Idaho Vandals men's track and field athletes 1977 births Living people Sportspeople from Aalborg European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Members of the Folketing 2011–2015 Members of the Folketing 2015–2019