PoleVaultPower.com

Swedish coach Pekka Dahlhojd passed away suddenly last night.

I have known Pekka since 2008-2009, and have never met someone more committed to pole vault. It is a huge loss to those he impacted on a daily basis, as well as those of us who only met him at meetings or championships or on Facebook. Pekka cared more than most, regardless of anything.
He will be remembered.

A good man. He recently had a birthday. A tremendous loss to our pole vault community. He always made my vaulters feel at home while in Sweden.

Pekka was a great man and will be missed. Both times I went to train and compete in Sweden he was there to help with a place to train, a place to stay for next-to-nothing, rides to and from the airport, pole transport etc... I was talking to a friend last night who also knew him and we traded stories of him helping anyone he could find that needed him, and spending countless hours by the PV Pits coaching and mentoring young pole vaulters at Friidrottens Hus in Gothenburg. Several of them had broken home lives and Pekka served as a parental figure for them day after day.

To share one example of what kind of man Pekka was, I once found a spray glue that I really liked but was only made in Sweden. I contacted Pekka to ask if I could get it somewhere, and he said "don't worry", and purchased an entire case and sent it to me. It so happened that the Swedish Post Office didn't like the aeresol in the package, and bounced it back to him. He tried three more times in different packages to hide the aeresol, despite me telling him it was fine and not to worry about it. He was always there for anyone who needed help, and his presence will be sorely missed in the global PV community.

I miss him and his smile. Gone but not forgotten. RIP Pekka.