First came a Swede, then came a Swede and then came a Swede. At that time, Swedish Olympic history was written.
Linn Svahn first, Jonna Sundling second, Maja Dahlqvist third. It has never happened before that three Swedish athletes took a complete podium after competing at the Winter Olympics.
Sundling had to take a small step Descent from the golden place she made her own. Svahn had to live a half-hearted life out of the darkness in which she had dwelled on and off for many years.
While Jonna Sundling collected a lot of championship gold, Linn Svahn’s career was marked by injuries.
Jonna Sundling reached the final with four consecutive gold medals at the World Championships and the Olympics. While Jonna Sundling collected a lot of championship gold, Linn Svahn’s career was marked by injuries and illnesses.
She won her first victory in the World Cup in December 2019 and the future was hers. She has 17 wins and 27 podiums, but the championships never went to Linn Svahn.
This is not the case with the World Cup and the Olympic Games became a single medal. Neither individually nor in teams. Not a single small bronze. Only now, when she struck with the greatest gold there is to win.
Maja Dahlqvist took a nice bronze medal, but that day was a Swedish battle between Sundling and Svahn and the final was a pure demonstration by the two.
They made sure never to spoil each other. They made sure to give each other a fair chance and the game for gold was probably decided when Sundling hesitated in a corner and squandered the lead she had wanted.
Linn Svahn won her gold just two days after Lindsey Vonn’s serious fall.
After Linn Svahn held her last skis, which she had specially rescued, in her hands, she didn’t let go of them.
Linn Svahn won her gold Just two days after Lindsey Vonn’s serious accident. Both were question marks for a long time before the Olympics.
Nothing is more dangerous in the Alpine world than a downhill race.
Nothing is more stressful in the ski world than a day of sprinting.
Again and again the starting signal, screaming announcer, roaring audience, chaos on the tracks. Driver close, front behind and always quick decisions.
Impression, impression, impression.
The brain has to go into overdrive.
For a brain that needs a lot of rest, a day like this could be a complete nightmare. For Linn Svahn, it was her work environment during Olympic Tuesday. Almost a year after the severe concussion she suffered after falling in Trondheim during one of the last training sessions before the 2025 World Cup.
As soon as you go over the edge, there is a chasm on the other side and you fall very, very deep.
As she competed at the Tesero Olympic Stadium in Fiemme Valley, it was impossible not to think of the words of national team doctor Rickard Noberius in the days leading up to the first Olympic race.
He described how they work in the long term with Linn Svahn’s health. It’s like gently driving them up a long hill.
“The hill is pretty flat, but once you get over the edge, there’s a drop on the other side and you fall very, very deep.”
It seems very unclear when and where this edge is. Where the cliff waits. It’s about avoiding the edge.
For Lindsey Vonn it was time with a fall after thirteen seconds in the downhill on Sunday.
Of course, in retrospect it’s easy to say that she shouldn’t have started with her injured knees. Looking back, it’s a relief that she survived the crash.
Beforehand, she never hesitated to get started. Action star Arnold Schwarzenegger has no problem understanding this. He writes to X:
“The Olympics remind us of an important life lesson: greatness and heartbreak go hand in hand. You cannot achieve greatness without heartbreak and failure.”
He describes his friend Vonn’s start with injured knees as: “It’s brave. It’s brave. It’s a little crazy.”
And it reminds him “that there is no such thing as risk-free greatness.”
Linn Svahn had a long road back from the concussion. She has spoken of the quiet, dark rooms where she was forced to rest her brain.
She barely spoke before the Olympics. It caused some dissatisfaction among us in the media gang and the logical question:
How do you cope with a stressful sprint day but no quick media briefing?
The leaders around them did explained that Linn Svahn suffered major physical setbacks after the media days in the fall. Nobody wanted to risk that anymore. During the Olympics, she even participates in team meetings via FaceTime from adjacent rooms.
Svahn and Vonn show that elite sport is not a health activity.
In studio one on Monday in P1 I was asked if you could see Lindsey Vonn as a role model.
Top athletes can certainly be viewed as role models as long as they show commitment, sacrifice, determination and the ability to concentrate in stressful situations. You can learn a lot from this.
But when you talk about what they put their bodies and minds through, it’s just disheartening.
The road to a riot, a finish line crossed, and a gold medal around your neck can be as long as it is brutal.
Read more:
Swedish Sprint Festival – won gold, silver and bronze: “Beautiful story”
