Susanne Lorentzon

Barbro Marie Susanne Lorentzon-Borg (born 11 June 1961) is a Swedish former track and field athlete who specialised in the high jump. She held the Swedish record for the high jump from 22 June 1980 to 20 April 1997, when her lifetime best of 1.94 m (6 ft 4+1⁄4 in) was beaten by Kajsa Bergqvist.

Susanne Lorentzon
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Sweden
IAAF World Indoor Games
Silver medal – second place1985 ParisHigh jump

She was born in Västerås to Inga-Britt Lorentzon (a 1960 Olympian for Sweden in the high jump) and Inge Lorentzon, a national men's sprint champion. Susanne followed in her mother's footsteps while her sister, Annika, took up sprinting like her father.[1][2] She made her international debut at the 1977 European Athletics Junior Championships, coming 13th overall.[3] Still a teenager, she matched the achievements of her mother by winning the Swedish high jump title in 1979 and was then selected to compete for her country at the 1980 Summer Olympics.[4] On her Olympic debut she cleared a height of 1.85 m (6 ft 3⁄4 in) in qualifying but did not progress to the final.[1]

Lorentzon was a finalist at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in 1982 and 1983 and placed twelfth at the 1982 European Athletics Championships.[5] She was chosen as Sweden's representative at the inaugural 1983 World Championships in Athletics, but again failed to make a global final.[6] She was dominant nationally, however, winning all indoor and outdoor titles between 1981 and 1986 (bar the 1982 indoor title).[4][7]

The peak of her career was the 1985 season. She cleared a Swedish record of 1.94 m (6 ft 4+1⁄4 in) to take the silver at the 1985 IAAF World Indoor Games and matched that mark outdoors. She also placed fourth at the 1985 European Athletics Indoor Championships – her highest finish at that competition. She jumped for Sweden at European level indoors and out in the 1986 season, but did not reach the same heights.[5][8] Her last individual international medal came at the Nordic Indoor Athletics Championships that year, jumping 1.87 m (6 ft 1+1⁄2 in) for the gold ahead of Finland's Niina Vihanto.[9]

International competitions
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
1977 European Junior Championships Donetsk, Soviet Union 13th High jump 1.75 m
1980 Olympic Games Moscow, Soviet Union 15th (q) High jump 1.85 m
1981 European Indoor Championships Grenoble, France 7th High jump 1.85 m
1982 European Championships Athens, Greece 12th High jump 1.88 m
1983 European Indoor Championships Budapest, Hungary 7th High jump 1.84 m
World Championships Helsinki, Finland 13th (q) High jump 1.80 m
1985 World Indoor Games Paris, France 2nd High jump 1.94 m NR
European Indoor Championships Piraeus, Greece 4th High jump 1.90 m
1986 European Indoor Championships Madrid, Spain 8th High jump 1.85 m
Nordic Indoor Championships Lidingö, Sweden 1st High jump 1.87 m
European Championships Stuttgart, West Germany 20th (q) High jump 1.80 m

National titles

Competing as a guest, she was also the 1980 and 1984 winner at the Finnish Indoor Championships, and the 1981 winner at the Norwegian Indoor Championships.[10][11]

See also

References
  1. Susanne Lorentzon. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2016-02-20.
  2. Svenska Mästerskapen i friidrott 1896-2005 (in Swedish). Erik Wiger/TextoGraf Förlag, 2006. ISBN 91-631-9065-6.
  3. European Junior Championships 1977. World Junior Athletics History. Retrieved on 2016-02-20.
  4. Swedish Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-02-20.
  5. Susanne Lorentzon. Track and Field Brinkster. Retrieved on 2016-02-20.
  6. Susanne Lorentzon. IAAF. Retrieved on 2016-02-20.
  7. Swedish Indoor Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-02-20.
  8. IAAF World Indoor Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-02-20.
  9. Nordic Indoor Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-02-20.
  10. Finnish Indoor Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-02-20.
  11. Norwegian Indoor Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-02-20.
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