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, bar. Pole jumping was already practiced by the ...

er.

Athletics career

At the

2010 Summer Youth Olympics The 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, ) officially known as the I Summer Youth Olympic Games, and commonly known as Singapore 2010, were the inaugural edition of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG), an Olympic Games-based event for young athletes. Held ...

held in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, 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 and finished sixth at the

2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 2012 World Athletics U20 Championships, World Junior Championships in Athletics was an international Sport of athletics, athletics competition for athletes qualifying as Junior (athletics), juniors (born 1993 or later) which was held at the E ...

. 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 Athletic Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe. Editions First held, for me ...

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 largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, 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 Dr. Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt, born 12 August 1942 in Leerhafe, Wittmund, East Frisia is a German orthopedist and sports physician. He gained recognition for his roles as Germany's national football team doctor for 23 years (1995–2018) ...

, who had previously operated on other athletes including

Usain Bolt Usain St. Leo Bolt (; born 21 August 1986) is a Jamaican retired sprinter who is widely regarded as the greatest sprinter of all time. He is an eight-time Olympic gold medalist and the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, ...

, Sanna Kallur and Christian Olsson, as well as U2 singer

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by the nickname Bono ( ), is an Irish singer-songwriter and activist. He is a founding member, the lead vocalist, and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Bono is known for his impassioned voca ...

, identified the issue and carried out a second surgery. During his recovery period Jacobsson caught glandular fever. 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, 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 List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, 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 competi ...

due to be held in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, 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 21st-century Swedish sportsmen