Emiel Mellaard

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Emiel Mellaard (born 21 March 1966 in Spijkenisse, South Holland) is a retired Dutch long jumper, best known for his gold medal at the 1989 European Indoor Championships in The Hague.

Emiel Mellaard was the first Dutch long jumper who broke the 8-metres barrier, when in 1987 he jumped 8.02. With this achievement he took over Henk Visser’s legendary Dutch record of 7.98, set up back in 1956.

His personal best was 8.19 metres, achieved in July 1988 in Groningen. This is the current Dutch record on outdoor tracks. However, Emiel Mellaard is one of the few athletes who produced his very best performance on an indoor track. In 1989 he jumped 8.23 metres in The Hague, a few weeks before he would become European Indoor Champion. It is obvious that this achievement is the current Dutch indoor record.

[edit] Achievements

Year	Tournament	Venue	Result
1985	European Junior Championships	Cottbus, East Germany	3rd
1986	European Championships	Stuttgart, West Germany	4th
1988	Olympic Games	Seoul, South Korea	11th
1989	European Indoor Championships	The Hague, Netherlands	1st
1990	European Indoor Championships	Glasgow, Scotland	2nd