Jaak Uudmäe

At the 1980 Olympics, Estonian Jaak Uudmäe pulled one of the major upsets of those Olympics, when he denied the fourth Olympic gold for Viktor Saneyev. The 1980 Olympic triple jump was set up for Saneyev to win his fourth gold and match Al Oerter’s record but was marked by very faulty officiating. Uudmäe jumped his personal best of 17.35 in the third round, which Saneyev could not better. In addition to his Olympic gold Uudmäe won three medals at the European Indoors, silvers in 1977 and 1980 and bronze in 1979, adding silver at the 1979 Universiade. Uudmäe never won a Soviet title, winning silver in 1979 and bronzes in 1978 and 1980, but he was an 11-time Estonian SSR champion between 1975-88. He was also named Estonian athlete of the year in 1979 and 1980.

After finishing his sports career, Uudmäe worked as an athletics coach in Otepää, Estonia. From 1990-98 he was the deputy mayor and chairman of the city council of Otepää and from 1998-99 worked as general secretary of the Estonian Athletics Federation. From 2000-13 Uudmäe worked as a physical education teacher at the Rocca al Mare School, one of the most prestigious private schools in Estonia, and since 2013 has been a member of Tallinn’s city council.

Personal Best: TJ – 17.35 (1980).