Angelica Bengtsson

Angelica Therese Bengtsson (born 8 July 1993) is a Swedish track and field athlete who specialises in the pole vault. She became the first pole vault winner at the inaugural Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore, 2010.

Bengtsson has won gold medals at the 2009 World Youth Championships and the 2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics. She set a mark of 4.47 m for the youth world record for the event in 2010 and broke the world junior record with a vault of 4.63 m in 2011. Bengtsson placed tied 4th at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, China, having set a national record of 4.70 m in the final. She set a then-national record with 4.81 m, set indoor in Clermont-Ferrand, on February 24, 2019. Bengtsson has won eleven national titles.

On 1 November 2021, she announced her retirement from pole vaulting.

Biography

Bengtsson was born on 8 July 1993 in Väckelsång; her father is Swedish and her mother is Afro-Brazilian. Bengtsson initially started out in gymnastics and also hoped to follow in her father's footsteps in the javelin throw. It quickly became apparent that she had a talent for pole vaulting; however, and she began her career at club level for IFK Växjö, before going on to join Hässelby SK. She enjoyed her first global victory at the 2009 IAAF World Youth Championships, where at the age of sixteen she won the pole vault gold medal with a clearance of 4.32 metres. This was a significant winning margin of 22 cm over the rest of the field.