Melker Svärd Jacobsson (born 8 January 1994) is a Swedish

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.

Athletics career

At the

2010 Summer Youth Olympics The 2010 Summer Youth Olympics ( ta, 2010 கோடைக்கால இளையோர் ஒலிம்பிக் விளையாட்டுக்கள் ms, Sukan Olimpik Belia Musim Panas 2010), officially known as the I Summer ...

held in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, Jacobsson placed joint fourth in the final of the boys' pole vault with a jump of 4.85 metres. He won the silver medal at the

2011 World Youth Championships in Athletics The 2011 World Youth Championships in Athletics were the seventh edition of the World Youth Championships in Athletics. They were held in Lille Métropole, France, with stadium-based events at Stadium Lille-Métropole in Villeneuve d'Ascq, on 6� ...

and finished sixth at the

2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics was an international athletics competition for athletes qualifying as juniors (born 1993 or later) which was held at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, on 10–15 ...

. In 2014 he finished 19th in the men's pole vault at the

European Athletics Championships The European Athletics Championships is a biennial (from 2010) athletics event organised by the European Athletics Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe. Editions First held, for men ...

with a jump of 5.30 metres. Jacobsson set an indoor personal best jump of 5.65 metres, at an event in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

in February 2014. In autumn 2014 Jacobsson underwent surgery on both his hips to correct an issue that had caused him pain since the age of ten. After four months of recovery he suffered a groin injury that resulted in pain when he jumped, which doctors were unable to diagnose for eight months. In January 2015 German surgeon

Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt (; born 12 August 1942 in Leerhafe, today part of Wittmund, East Frisia) is a German orthopedist. He gained recognition for his roles as Germany national football team doctor (1995–2018) and club doctor of Bayern ...

, who had previously operated on other athletes including

Usain Bolt Usain St. Leo Bolt, , (; born 21 August 1986) is a retired Jamaican sprinter, widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time. He is the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, and 4 × 100 metres relay. An eight- ...

Sanna Kallur Sanna can refer to: Places *Sanna, Nordland, an island in Træna municipality, Nordland county, Norway *Sanna, Ardnamurchan, a village in the far west of Scotland *Sänna, a village in Rõuge Parish, Võru County, Estonia *Sanna (Inn), a river in ...

and

Christian Olsson Christian Olsson (born 25 January 1980) is a former Swedish athlete competing in high jump and triple jump. He won an Olympic gold medal, one gold and one silver medal in the World Championships and two gold medals in the European Championship ...

, as well as U2 singer

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by his stage name Bono (), is an Irish singer-songwriter, activist, and philanthropist. He is the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Born and raised in Dublin, he attended M ...

, identified the issue and carried out a second surgery. During his recovery period Jacobsson caught

glandular fever In animals, a gland is a group of cells in an animal's body that synthesizes substances (such as hormones) for release into the bloodstream (endocrine gland) or into cavities inside the body or its outer surface (exocrine gland). Structure De ...

. He eventually returned to training in December 2015 under a new coach, Gustaf Hultgren. Jacobsson was one of the first four track and field athletes to qualify to compete for

Sweden at the 2016 Summer Olympics Sweden competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 3 to 20 August 2016. Swedish athletes have competed at every Summer Olympic Games in the modern era, except for the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis. They extended their ...

, having met the qualifying standard of 5.70 metres for the men's pole vault. He met the standard by setting a new personal best of exactly 5.70 metres at an event in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

, United States. He has also surpassed the qualification standard of 5.55 metres needed to compete at the

2016 European Athletics Championships The 2016 European Athletics Championships was held in Amsterdam, Netherlands, between 6 and 10 July 2016. It was the first time the Netherlands hosted the event. Due to 2016 being an Olympic year, there was no racewalking and the marathon compet ...

due to be held in

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 ...

, Netherlands. He reached the final there but did not start in it. In the end, he was also withdrawn from the Rio squad due to an injury.

Competition record

¹Did not start in the final

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Svard Jacobsson, Melker Living people 1994 births Swedish male pole vaulters Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics Swedish Athletics Championships winners