PHOTO: Bildbyrån
He is the big future name of Swedish high jump.
Now Javier Sotomayor gives his honest verdict on Melwin Lycke Holm.
– Yes, Stefan Holm’s son. Melvin. He looks interesting, says the scandal man to Sportbladet.
In the 80s and 90s, the international high jump scene was about two names. The bitter rivals Patrik Sjoberg and the Cuban Javier Sotomayor settled for the medals and spurred each other on to higher and higher heights.
Sotomayor’s career
Sjöberg broke a new world record in high jump in 1987 with his unforgettable jump of 2.42 meters. But just over a year later, Sotomayor would beat that, jumping first 2.43m, then also 2.44m and finally 2.45m.
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The latter is still a world record to this day, a full 30 years later. But Sjöberg and Sotomayor had a lot of fights over the years and the Cuban world record holder has had several scandals over the years.
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Now paying tribute to Melwin
On two different occasions he has been caught for doping and both Sjöberg and Stefan Holm has reacted strongly against Sotomayor. Holm was denied an Olympic medal in Sydney 2000 after the Cuban took an Olympic silver and a year later got caught in a doping test, the Swede also believes that the world record should be deleted because of the suspensions.
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These days, Sotomayor works for the Cuban Athletics Federation and is currently in Budapest for the World Athletics Championships. Then he wants to draw attention to and highlight a new great Swedish talent in the high jump – namely Stefan Holm’s son.
– Yes, I saw Melwin Lycke Holm win the JEM in Jerusalem just before the WC. I wasn’t there, but I saw it on TV and noted that Stefan Holm coached him. It could become something, says the 55-year-old to Sportbladet.
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Like Stefan Holm
Lycke Holm broke through as a great talent at a young age, but has also had to struggle for a few injury-filled years to raise the bar to higher heights. Now Sotomayor gives her honest opinion on the future of the 18-year-old.
– Everyone develops differently, says the scandal jumper to the evening newspaper with a smile.
– I developed early, just like Patrik Sjöberg. For Stefan Holm, it took longer, so you never know what will happen.
Just like Stefan Holm, Javier Sotomayor also coaches his son Javier Jr in the high jump. He is 16 years old and has jumped 1.99m as the highest, which can be compared to Melwin who reached 2.17m already as a 16-year-old.
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