Erki Nool (born 25 June 1970) is an Estonian retired decathlete and former politician.
Life and career Nool was born on 25 June 1970 in Võru. He grew up in an impoverished environment in the southern part of Võru. His father was a worker in a furniture factory and his mother was in charge of the finances of a school. There were six children, with Erki the third youngest. When he was 13, from the suggestion of his father he moved to a sports-focused boarding school, where he could eat a free warm meal three times a day.
In those days the economy was in a poor condition. When traveling to over-seas competitions, they didn't get their own cabin in the cruise ship, but instead just slept in the hallways and then competed and trained the next day. They also didn't have indoor athletics training facilities for winter. Nool was brought to tears when he was gifted a new, pristine pair of sneakers.
After Estonia regained its independence on 20 August 1991, Nool was vocal about his dream of competing in the Olympics as part of the Estonian team. He took part in the Barcelona 1992 Summer Olympics decathlon but he ended up having to stop and pull out. Little by little he developed and by the mid-1990s he was among the top athletes in decathlon. In September 1997 he founded his own sports club and in 1998–2009 he organized international decathlon competition "Reval Hotels Cup".
When he won gold for decathlon at the 1998 Budapest European Championships, he became a sports hero. Two years later, when he won the gold medal for decathlon in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, he became a national hero. Although Nool did not place first in any individual event, his total score was the highest. There was a dramatic moment in discus throw, but luckily the competition referee decided to over-rule a judge, who had red-flagged his last and only valid attempt due to alleged step-out. The reinstatement of his 43.66-metre third throw sparked unsuccessful counter-protests from other teams. Nool took gold ahead of the Czech Roman Šebrle and American Chris Huffins.
He has been voted as Estonia's sexiest man and in the 2000s the most popular Estonian. In 2006, Nool participated as a celebrity contestant on the first season of Tantsud tähtedega, an Estonian version of Dancing with the Stars. His professional dancing partner was Ave Vardja.
In 2005–2017, Erki Nool was the Vice Chairman of the EOC Athletes Commission and 2007–2011 member of the European Athletics Development Committee. 2008–2012, he was also member of the executive committee of the Estonian Olympic Committee.
On 4 March 2007, Nool was elected to the Estonian Parliament, the Riigikogu, representing the Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica. He has since left politics and now focuses on his real estate business and athletics school, with 450 students.
His son Robin Nool (born in 1998) competed in pole vault with a record of 5.40 m.
Achievements Representing 1992 Olympic Games Barcelona, Spain — Decathlon DNF 1994 European Championships Helsinki, Finland 10th Decathlon 7953 pts 1995 World Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 4th Decathlon 8268 pts World Indoor Championships Barcelona, Spain 7th Heptathlon 5887 pts 1996 European Indoor Championships Stockholm, Sweden 1st Heptathlon 6188 pts Olympic Games Atlanta, United States 6th Decathlon 8543 pts 1997 World Championships Athens, Greece 6th Decathlon 8413 pts World Indoor Championships Paris, France 2nd Heptathlon 6213 pts 1998 European Championships Budapest, Hungary 1st Decathlon 8667 pts IAAF World Combined Events Challenge 1st Decathlon 25,967 pts 1999 World Indoor Championships Maebashi, Japan 2nd Heptathlon 6374 pts World Championships Seville, Spain 14th Decathlon 7568 pts 2000 European Indoor Championships Ghent, Belgium 3rd Heptathlon 6200 pts Olympic Games Sydney, Australia 1st Decathlon 8641 pts IAAF World Combined Events Challenge 1st Decathlon 26,089 pts 2001 World Indoor Championships Lisbon, Portugal 5th Heptathlon 6074 pts World Championships Edmonton, Canada 2nd Decathlon 8815 pts IAAF World Combined Events Challenge 2nd Decathlon 25,839 pts Goodwill Games Brisbane, Australia 3rd Decathlon 8323 pts 2002 European Indoor Championships Vienna, Austria 3rd Heptathlon 6084 pts European Championships Munich, Germany 2nd Decathlon 8438 pts 2003 World Championships Paris, France — Decathlon DNF 2004 Olympic Games Athens, Greece 8th Decathlon 8235 pts World Indoor Championships Budapest, Hungary 5th Heptathlon 6093 pts 2005 European Indoor Championships Madrid, Spain 12th Heptathlon 5712 pts
Personal bests Information from World Athletics profile unless otherwise noted.
Event Performance Location Date Points Decathlon 8,815 points Edmonton August 7, 2001 8,815 points 100 meters 10.34 (+3.2 m/s) Haapsalu August 16, 1997 1,013 points Long jump (+3.0 m/s) Tallinn June 15, 1996 1,117 points Shot put Sydney September 27, 2000 796 points High jump Lipetsk February 9, 1991 850 points 400 meters 46.23 Edmonton August 6, 2001 997 points 110 meters hurdles 14.37 (-0.1 m/s) Götzis June 4, 2000 927 points Discus throw Arles June 8, 2003 773 points Pole vault Tallinn July 5, 1998 1100 points Javelin throw New York City July 20, 1998 919 points 1500 meters 4:29.48 Sydney September 28, 2000 748 points Virtual Best Performance 9,240 points
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