Sebastian Samuelsson
Sport: Biathlon.
Most important Olympic achievements: Best results – gold in the 2018 relay, silver in the 2018 pursuit start, 4th place in the 2018 distance and in the 2022 mixed relay, 5th place in the 2022 and 2026 sprint and in the 2022 relay and 2026 mixed relay.
Family: Partner Linnéa Karlsson and daughter Elsa, almost 2 years old.
“I’ll be away from them for seven weeks. They’ll be there during the Olympics, but we don’t live together. I’m hoping to meet them outside a few times and get some energy out of it. But I’ve really recharged myself mentally because that’s going to be a long time. There’s going to be a lot of face time and that’s getting easier as Elsa gets older. You may not be able to talk, but you can still say hello and goodbye.”
My priorities haven’t changed, but I think it’s a constant compromise on everything, always. Sometimes it’s frustrating when you feel like you’d like to do more for your family. And sometimes you feel like you would like to do more for training. You’re a bit torn back and forth at times. You make a lot of decisions that don’t feel so easy at the moment. But I still think I found a good balance in it.”
Erik Mobarg
Sport: Ski cross.
Olympic merits: 4. 2022, 26. 2018.
Family: Partner Alma Faxén and sons Frans, 5 years, and days, just over two months.
“It’s the best thing in the world to have a child. It’s going to be a lot for my partner to be home alone. I travel a lot in the winter. But we have support from family, so hopefully it will go well.”
In some ways, becoming parents to two children feels like a smaller step after we’ve already been on this journey once. Maybe you’re a little calmer and not as picky as you were with your first child. And Frans will be a great big brother. He practiced dressing the preschoolers in outerwear and the like.
I try to ski with Frans when I’m home. We usually build small trails on the farm with cross-country skis. It’s fun to watch him develop. It’s just as big, if not bigger, than going to the World Cup yourself.”
Kristoffer Jakobsen
Sport: Alpine.
Olympic merits: 5th in the team competition parallel slalom 2018 (reserve), 7th in the slalom 2018, 13th in the team competition in the parallel giant slalom 2022.
Family: Partner Erica Hillrings, son Ted 1 year old, who will also be a big brother later this year.
“Parenthood fits well with sports life. I can work from home for a lot of the year, which is nice. When you’re away for a month at a time, there are phones and Facetime and everything like that, so I think it went well. My partner obviously has to take on a lot of responsibility, but she knew what she was getting into. We both knew that. We prepared for it to be like that.”
The little guy wants to get up very early. He’s a morning person, I’m definitely not a morning person. I like to sleep until nine in the morning and then get up and train. It’s easy to get little sleep, it’s difficult to go to bed when he falls asleep. But then suddenly he wakes up at 5:30 a.m. and then you get a little tired yourself.
Calle Halfvarsson
Sport: Cross-country skis.
Olympic merits: Best results – 4th in the 2018 team sprint, 5th in the 2018 relay, 9th in 15 km 2018.
Family: Wife Isabell Halfvarsson, son Casper-Lo (turning 4 this summer) and daughter Stella (turning 2 this spring).
“When you have children, your whole life changes, of course for the better. And you get a different perspective on things, that the children and the family are the most important thing. You quickly understand what is important in life.
There will now be a lot of face time during the Olympics. I usually tell Isabell that it’s a bit strange, the kids have only seen me on the phone for over a month now. Feels a bit strange, but I still see her eventually and that’s a small comfort when you’re away for so long.”
Jacob Markstrom
Sport: Ice hockey.
Olympic merits: Debuts in the Olympic context.
Family: Wife Amanda Markström, sons Clark Marley (soon to be 3 years old) and Cruz (five months old).
“For myself, the most important thing is to have a fantastic wife who does most of the work at home. We have two small children.
You lose a lot of time, but I am extremely grateful to my wife for the work. The family is at home in Gävle at the moment, but they will reach the end of the tournament.”
What is it like to be away from them?
“Of course it’s boring. But it’s lucky that you have Facetime, phones and communication. You long for it – but at the same time I’ve been waiting twelve years to be able to represent Sweden at the Olympics. Being here means a lot. It’ll be fun to be able to share it with the kids when they get here. It’ll be great fun.”
Sarah McManus
Sport: Curling.
Olympic merits: Gold in 2018, bronze in 2022.
Family: Partner Joakim Sjölund and son Mac, 3 years old.
“Since the game against Denmark (last Friday), I have had both Mac and my partner Joakim here in Cortina, as well as my mother and father. It feels so great to have Mac in the stands and not have to leave him at home.”
He has taken part in tournaments before, for example when we won the European Championships in Finland before Christmas, but then we went to North America for two competitions and then I miss him a lot. I don’t want to be away from him for more than ten days. Mac usually calls me from the stands and asks if I want a cookie, but here at the Olympics it’s harder to make contact. I bought him an Olympic mascot.”
