The 43-year-old led the Swedish curling team to a historic silver medal at the Paralympics in China four years ago. In Italy, the team – four out of five players were the same as the silver team – was close to reaching the final again, but failed in the semi-finals against China.
However, blue-yellow would return the favor in Cortina.
And also left the Paralympics with bronze medals.
– Going home with a fourth place would have been devastating, it would have been difficult. “You invest so much time and energy over several years to get here,” says Viljo Petersson-Dahl.
– When you are here, you want everything to go well. Then missing the semi-final against China and losing a game for bronze… No.
Yang Hui-Tae’s miss In the sixth game, Sweden clearly had the lead and took a 5-2 lead with two rounds to go.
“He made the wrong decision and gave us second place, you could say,” says Petersson-Dahl.
The finish in Cortina would still offer drama.
In the following round, South Korea came second and was only one point behind Sweden until the end. However, Blågult, who had the hammer, fought back and ultimately secured the medal.
– I’m so proud of the team. Incredibly happy that we managed to recharge our batteries. We are playing an incredibly good game against China and it was a must to score on the finish line. “We really wanted to win gold, even though our performance at these Paralympics was a rollercoaster,” says Petersson-Dahl.
– But winning the bronze match… Incredibly important and incredibly beautiful.
The bronze belongs to Sweden seventh medal at the Paralympics. Alpine skier Ebba Årsjö has already won three gold and one bronze medals, and Zebastian Modin secured two bronze medals in the long distance.
