After a long and successful career, former Olympic high jump champion Stefan Holm bids farewell (© Getty Images)
Three living legends of athletics were presented with the Distinguished Career Award at the 2008 World Athletics Gala in Monaco...
Extract from IAAF Yearbook 2008
Ecuador's flag bearer looks to second career
It is not too much of an exaggeration to call Jefferson Perez a living legend in Ecuador and the announcement of the race walker's retirement in September led to tears from many of his compatriots.
At the World Athletics Gala in November, it was the turn of Perez himself to fight back the tears as he received the Distinguished Career Award.
"This is a tribute to the perseverance, work, love and constant support of the Ecuadorian people. I am the only representative to the world of a country and culture of extraordinary human beings who are working hard every day to do our best in whatever we do. We are only a small nation in terms of our physical size but a big one in terms of our strength and love for what we do," said Perez in an emotional speech when accepting the Award.
Perez, 34, put the South American country on the sporting map when he won the 1996 Olympic Games 20km gold medal, Ecuador's first Olympic medal of any description in any sport.
After finishing fourth in Sydney and Athens, he returned to the podium in Beijing when he got the silver medal.
He has also won three consecutive 20km walk gold medals at the IAAF World Championships, being first across the line in 2003, 2005 and 2007, and after seven consecutive appearances in the event since he made his debut in 1995, his absence will be sorely felt when the gun goes in Berlin next summer.
“My heart wants to go on but my body can’t take another four years of hard work,” commented Perez ahead of his last race, the IAAF Race Walking Challenge final in Spain on 21 September, where he finished third
Perez has a clear vision of what the future holds for him now that he has retired.
"We have an expression in my country: ‘If you’re famous you can go to bed’, but I’m not like that. This is the start of my work with kids and other important projects.”
“I have a foundation to help children with difficulties. I will also continue with my business. Many people in my country also want to see me in politics but it might take me some time to be ready for that challenge. Coaching though will not be for me. I was very hard on myself and I know I can't inflict that attitude on other people,” added Perez.
Holm hangs up his spikes
The name of Sweden's Stefan Holm among a meeting's entries was always guaranteed to fill the seats close to where the high jumpers perform.
However, at the end of last summer, at the age of 32, the man nicknamed The Human Bouncing Ball decided to hang up his spikes.
In recognition of his charisma and his achievements, of which the 2004 Olympic Games gold medal was the crowning glory, he received a Distinguished Career Award at the 2008 World Athletics Gala.
However, many people are still asking why he retired after a year in which he won the IAAF World Indoor Championships gold medal and cleared the superlative height of 2.37m, both indoors and outdoors,
"I'd been a world class jumper for 10 years. It was the right time. I wanted to go out at the top and also spend more time at home," explained Holm.
"Since I retired, I haven't really done very much but being able to be with my family more has been a joy.
"I've had offers of work from people like television companies and I'll start making some serious decisions about my future at the start of 2009 but for the moment I'm just enjoying not training and not hurting," he joked.
"If I had been able to defend my Olympic title and won my second Olympic gold medal then I would have retired immediately in Beijing. There would have been nothing more to strive for. As it happen, I finished fourth, so I decided to carry on for a few more meetings.
"In fact, I had one of my best competitions of the season right at the end, finishing second at the IAAF World Athletics Final in Stuttgart, clearing 2.33m. In that sense, I'm happy as I went out on a high note."
Holm exited the stage left in the German city with the stadium speakers blaring out the Frank Sinatra standard 'My Way'. He was ceremonially clapped off to the dressing rooms by his fellow competitors after his major last international meeting although he had one last goodbye to make and won at a local event in Karlstad to ensure that he finished, as many will remember him, as a winner.
Kajsa Bergqvist: a high jumper of rare vintage
Swedish high jump heroine Kajsa Bergqvist retired last January and, after a spate of titles and medals in the last decade, it was no surprise that she was honoured with a Distinguished Career Award at the 2008 World Athletics Gala.
A mixture of persistent injuries and marriage to the Swedish actor film director Manse Herniate helped her make the decision despite still being optimistic about the possibilities she could again have been an Olympic medallist.
"At the start of the year, I felt that physically I could have competed but mentally it would have been difficult to have carried on training and competing," admitted the 32-year-old, who won the gold medal at the 2005 IAAF World Championships.
Among her other accolades were victories at the 2002 European Athletics Championships as well as at the 2001 and 2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships.
She also established the current World indoor record of 2.08m at a meeting in the German town of Arnstadt in 2006.
"If I do something then I want to do it 100 percent and I no longer felt that drive, even though it was an Olympic year and I also initially planned for 2008 to be my last year."
"I miss the feeling of taking off, flying through the air, clearing the bar and landing but it was everything else that led me to retire," added Bergqvist.
Since leaving the world of competitive athletics, although she is still a familiar face as a spectator at many meetings, Bergqvist has swapped clearing high jump bars to looking at what is behind restaurant bars.
In the last year, Bergqvist has been studying to become a sommelier - a trained wine expert.
"There is so much to learn, such as what is grown where and which grapes are grown in different parts of the world.
"I've been winter training in the past in South Africa and they produce some of the best wines in the world, but it's difficult to say what my favourite wines are as there is so much variety," added Bergqvist, who was a high jumper of a rare vintage.
