Angelica Bengtsson

Swedish former pole vaulter Angelica Bengtsson is the product of Väckelsång, a small town in Sweden. She was born on Thursday, 8 July 1993, and began her athletic career around the age of 12, competing from 2006 to 2021. By the time she retired, she had amassed an impressive list of achievements, including eleven national titles.

Bengtsson made history as the first pole vault winner at the inaugural Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore in 2010. Her prowess extended to the world stage, where she claimed gold at the 2009 World Youth Championships and the 2010 World Junior Championships. In 2010, she set a youth world record of 4.47 meters, and in 2011, she broke the world junior record with a vault of 4.63 meters. At the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, she tied for fourth place while setting a national record of 4.70 meters. Her career peak came on February 24, 2019, in Clermont-Ferrand, where she set an indoor national record of 4.81 meters. She retired from pole vaulting on November 1, 2021. Standing 5'4" with an athletic build, she is of mixed-race heritage, primarily Black, and continues to be recognized for her contributions to the sport.