We communicate to the Swede who took Christian Olsson to international triple soar success and is guiding British excessive soar record-holder Morgan Lake.
Yannick Tregaro was impressed to turn into a excessive jumper after watching Sweden’s Patrik Sjöberg break the world report in 1987 (2.42m). He took up athletics on the age of 11, and at 18 – after leaping a private finest of two.17m – he represented Sweden on the 1996 World Junior Championships in Sydney, Australia.
Tregaro left faculty with a purpose “to make the world or European elite as a senior athlete”; as an alternative, he made his title as a profitable and well-respected coach, guiding Sweden’s triple soar nationwide record-holder Christian Olsson to Olympic, world and European titles.
He at the moment coaches a bunch of athletes based mostly in Gothenburg together with former world and European U20 triple soar champion and Swedish junior record-holder Gabriel Wallmark, former European U20 100m hurdles champion and lengthy soar silver medallist Tilda Johansson (Sweden), and Nice Britain’s former world and European U20 excessive soar champion Morgan Lake, who set a nationwide report of two.00m in 2025.
What was certainly one of your most memorable moments as a younger athlete?
My good friend and I each needed to strive athletics and I can nonetheless keep in mind the primary time we known as the membership. The coach informed us to return to the world; there was a fence round it and we have been wanting in, we have been a bit of bit nervous, then we noticed Patrik…it was simply so cool to see my idol for actual for the primary time.
As soon as we have been inside the world we may see Patrik doing his stuff shut up, so it was troublesome for us to concentrate on our assembly with the coach! That was my old flame indirectly of athletics, that you might so simply get into an atmosphere that was so inspiring. I nonetheless get goosebumps now and that’s one thing that has stayed with me nonetheless, that inspiration and that feeling inside.
One yr later I had the identical coach as Patrik, Viljo Nousiainen*, and Patrik grew to become virtually like an enormous brother to me.
How did you get into teaching?
Viljo died in June 1999. It was a shock, however earlier than that I used to be already actually interested in coaching and why we did issues. I used to be at all times asking: “Why will we do that?”, and taking a look at Patrik in addition to Viljo’s different good athletes and making an attempt to know the reasoning behind doing sure issues. I cherished to observe previous excessive soar and triple soar films, and after I was 17 I did a course to guide younger athletes in summer season vacation camps run by the membership.
I believe I used to be actually fortunate in a manner as a result of my finest good friend was Christian Olsson. He’s two years youthful than me and we have been coaching collectively. I used to be higher than him at the moment, however he was growing quick. When Viljo died I didn’t see that there was one other coach who may give me what I needed, so I felt like I needed to educate myself. Then Christian requested me if he may practice along with me, in order that was the beginning of my teaching profession.
Originally of that summer season I beat him, however he simply grew to become higher and higher and improved a lot. He certified for the European Juniors, gained two medals, and rapidly I used to be this actually younger excessive jumper who coached his good friend who was now the European champion in excessive soar and silver medallist in triple soar.
In the beginning, Christian was nonetheless asking: “Is Yannick the best coach for me?”, and I keep in mind there have been discussions with the Swedish Olympic Committee and the athletics federation – they thought as a result of Christian was such a very good expertise he may want a extra skilled or higher coach. They have been sceptical, and Christian was additionally sceptical, at all times asking a number of questions on why we did issues. But it surely was so vital for me as a result of he was making an attempt to check me, to see if I knew what I used to be doing, and I believe that was a very good factor.
I’ve so many recollections after I take into consideration this, however after all, to have an athlete like Christian as my first athlete was so useful for me. He was a brilliant expertise – he was so co-ordinated and good technically (that was Viljo’s robust aspect, working with co-ordination, method and rhythm) – and he stored on growing actually quick.
Who has been your biggest teaching affect?
My success with Christian was a mixture of ability and what I’d seen Viljo do with Patrik through the years. As a result of I’d spent a number of time with them on coaching camps and at championships, I had this unimaginable perception into the way you coached a world class athlete. Though I used to be inexperienced as a coach, the massive championships atmosphere was not new to me, and to see how Patrik ready for these occasions, that was one thing I believe was actually distinctive.
Viljo was actually good at doing diaries. I had diaries of my very own coaching for the final six or seven years, but in addition what Patrik had been doing, so after all I copied lots from that and regarded again to see, after I was in actually good condition, what did I do within the weeks earlier than? Or what led to that efficiency? That was a goldmine. I additionally had a number of solutions simply because I’d been within the atmosphere with these athletes and I’d discovered what some coaches may take a lifetime to study.
I nonetheless suppose one of many vital issues for me was that I used to be so curious after I was younger. Viljo was a very inventive coach and I needed to expertise and check out new issues and be open to totally different concepts.
Once I lecture I speak concerning the “artwork” coach and the “excel” coach. Though he wrote the diaries and did the planning, Viljo was very a lot the “artwork” coach. He didn’t plan particularly each train; he checked out us and what we would have liked. That was certainly one of his teaching strengths, and it’s mine, too.
Then, after all, I needed to study extra and I obtained chosen for a brilliant coach programme created by the then-head coach of Swedish Athletics, along with a behaviour scientist and the Swedish Olympic Committee, the place they introduced collectively round 20 of the most effective coaches in Sweden. I believe we met six instances a yr and it was about attending to know one another, opening up, speaking about our private tales, after which after all to coach ourselves. These coaches, who included Agne Bergvall [Carolina Klüft’s coach] and Benke Blomkvist [well-known sprints coach] grew to become my finest pals who I may ask something. I believe that programme is the reply to why Swedish athletics was so good within the early 2000s.
How did your teaching set-up evolve?
That first summer season, 1999, I solely coached Christian, however when the summer season ended I made a decision to tackle the entire athletes that Viljo coached who have been youthful than me.
Then I had a bunch, and I at all times suppose {that a} robust group is a crucial device to develop athletes. There’s a lot power in a bunch, and if everybody provides power, you mechanically get power again. I actually love the atmosphere you possibly can create.
There’ll at all times be extroverts and introverts, but it surely’s crucial to see everybody for who they’re and provides them their time within the highlight. When somebody turns into a bit of bit quiet it’s really easy to say: “Come on, be a part of us!”, and also you turn into extra extrovert they usually simply turn into extra introverted and shut down. To see shy, introverted folks develop – not that they should be extrovert, however simply to participate and contribute, and to get the extrovert folks to hear extra and be extra understanding – that was very cool.
When folks in a bunch belief one another and they are often themselves, that’s after they carry out. That’s one thing that’s actually vital for me in teaching. To get folks to carry out is not only what you do technically and bodily, it’s additionally the way you make them really feel as a human individual. I believe perhaps that’s much more vital than what you do, however it will probably generally be troublesome to get everybody to purchase into that philosophy.
Morgan clearly desires to develop and I at all times say: “Both you develop otherwise you die”, and that’s how it’s. It’s so vital that she develops, but it surely doesn’t at all times should be the excessive soar PB that improves. You may really feel such as you’re growing in different areas, bodily, mentally and technically, and if that occurs, then ultimately the outcomes will come.
What’s the most effective piece of recommendation you’d give to a brand new or aspiring coach?
Some coaches create a coaching system that they consider in they usually put the athlete into the system, however I needed to be a bit of bit the other and create the system across the athlete. So you must work out what are the athlete’s strengths and weaknesses, how do you develop that athlete, and what does that athlete want to succeed in their potential? That’s at all times my purpose, to get each athlete I coach to succeed in 100 per cent of their very own potential.
Athletics can truly be actually unfair at instances. Athletes can practice completely and be so motivated and decided and do all the things proper they usually’re nonetheless not giving such good performances, whereas another athletes might be assholes, like they only present up generally they usually can carry out very well. I believe you want to have the ability to create an individual that understands that.
Having steadiness is vital, too – by no means cease taking part in. As I discovered extra about method and power and growth, I grew to become increasingly particular. I felt like I went from being this open, playful coach to being increasingly slender. All of the schooling I did pointed to being extra particular, but it surely’s vital that you just nonetheless “play” and use the nervous system in numerous methods.
Lastly, if you wish to attain 100 per cent of your potential you don’t must turn into the world’s finest triple jumper, excessive jumper or no matter, you have to have a plan and you have to get the plan performed. Interval. I don’t settle for “no” for a solution if I will help my athletes. If it’s not potential to do what we deliberate then we have to do the second-best factor and determine it out. Having an elite mindset as a coach and athlete is about discovering options to get issues performed.
