Stefan Christian Holm (born 25 May 1976) is a retired Swedish high jumper. He won an Olympic gold medal, a silver in the World Championships, and one silver and one bronze medal in the European Championships. His personal records are 2.37 m (7 ft 9+1⁄4 in) (outdoors, set 2008) and 2.40 m (7 ft 10+1⁄4 in) (indoors, set 2005). Clearing the bar 59 centimeters (23 in) over his own height, he currently holds the world record for height differential, held jointly with American Franklin Jacobs.
Holm is currently coach of Swedish high jumper Sofie Skoog.
His inspiration for high-jumping began when he was 8 years old. He saw a Swedish high-jumping legend, and former world-record holder, Patrik Sjöberg, compete on television.[1]
He set an indoor personal best of 2.36 m (7 ft 8+3⁄4 in) in 2003 to win the Hochsprung mit Musik meeting, and managed to reach the same height outdoors the following year while winning the Internationales Hochsprung-Meeting Eberstadt. In 2004, Holm won the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens with a jump of 2.36 and was awarded the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal.[2]
Holm finished 4th at the 2008 Summer Olympics with a leap of 2.32 m. On 13 September 2008 he announced his retirement from the sport. Holm ended his 20-year career with a second place at the World Athletics Final in Stuttgart.[3]
He briefly returned to high jump competition in 2010 for a charity event: the Auto Lounge Comeback competition in Sweden. As his main rival Patrik Sjöberg had a knee injury, Holm agreed to jump off his wrong foot to even the score. He beat Sjöberg in the wrong-footed faceoff and went back to his normal takeoff to jump 2.15 m for third behind Ukhov and Donald Thomas.[4]
He became an IOC member at the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires in September 2013.[5] In October 2019, he announced he would leave his seat following the 2020 Summer Olympics.[6]
On his 40th birthday in May 2016, Holm set a new Swedish veteran record for 40-year-olds (M40). With 2.06 m he broke the previous record of 2.05 m, which had been held by Egon Nilsson for almost 50 years.[7]
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing  Sweden
| ||||
| 1993 | European Junior Championships | San Sebastián, Spain | 11th | 2.06 m |
| 1994 | World Junior Championships | Lisbon, Portugal | 7th | 2.10 m |
| 1995 | European Junior Championships | Nyíregyháza, Hungary | 6th | 2.17 m |
| 1997 | World Indoor Championships | Paris, France | 8th | 2.25 m |
| 1998 | European Indoor Championships | Valencia, Spain | 19th (q) | 2.20 m |
| European Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 7th | 2.27 m | |
| 1999 | World Indoor Championships | Maebashi, Japan | 6th | 2.25 m |
| Universiade | Palma de Mallorca, Spain | 4th | 2.25 m | |
| World Championships | Seville, Spain | 10th | 2.25 m | |
| 2000 | European Indoor Championships | Ghent, Belgium | 4th | 2.32 m |
| Olympic Games | Sydney, Australia | 4th[8] | 2.32 m | |
| 2001 | World Indoor Championships | Lisbon, Portugal | 1st | 2.32 m |
| World Championships | Edmonton, Canada | 4th | 2.30 m | |
| Goodwill Games | Brisbane, Australia | 1st | 2.33 m | |
| 2002 | European Indoor Championships | Vienna, Austria | 2nd | 2.30 m |
| European Championships | Munich, Germany | 2nd | 2.29 m | |
| 2003 | World Indoor Championships | Birmingham, United Kingdom | 1st | 2.35 m |
| World Championships | Paris, France | 2nd | 2.32 m | |
| 2004 | World Indoor Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 1st | 2.35 m |
| Olympic Games | Athens, Greece | 1st[8] | 2.36 m | |
| 2005 | European Indoor Championships | Madrid, Spain | 1st | 2.40 m |
| World Championships | Helsinki, Finland | 7th | 2.29 m | |
| 2006 | World Indoor Championships | Moscow, Russia | 5th | 2.30 m |
| European Championships | Gothenburg, Sweden | 3rd | 2.34 m | |
| 2007 | European Indoor Championships | Birmingham, United Kingdom | 1st | 2.34 m |
| World Championships | Osaka, Japan | 4th | 2.33 m | |
| 2008 | World Indoor Championships | Valencia, Spain | 1st | 2.36 m |
| Olympic Games | Beijing, China | 4th[8] | 2.32 m | |
