Swedes in the Olympics

How Team Sweden Recruited Its Brightest Star

By Kajsa Norman

At just 21 years old, pole vaulter Armand “Mondo” Duplantis was named the World Athletics Male Athlete of the Year for his perfect 2020 season – which included two world pole vault records (6.17m and 6.18m indoors), a world outdoor best (6.15m) and an unbeaten run of 16 victories against the world’s best vaulters. This year, Armand continued his winning streak, winning gold at the 2021 European Indoor Championships in March, where he set a new meet record of 6.05m before narrowly missing a new world record attempt of 6.19m. Needless to say, Duplantis is the overwhelming favorite heading into his event at the Olympics. However, it wasn’t a given that he would compete for Sweden.

A dual citizen with an American father and a Swedish mother, Armand grew up in Louisiana in an athletic family. He started pole vaulting at the age of 3 and quickly began racking up a number of age group world bests.

Before the 2015 World Youth Championships in Colombia, then 15-year-old Armand still hadn’t decided if he would compete for Sweden or the US.

“We got contacted by the Swedish federation with them saying that they wanted me to compete for them,” Armand recalls.

Armand’s mother, Helena Duplantis, had competed for Sweden as a heptathlete. His older brother Andreas had also competed for the gold and blue as a pole vaulter. Their positive experience swayed Armand who selected Sweden to the chagrin of many Americans. This summer, we hope to watch him secure his first Olympic gold medal in Tokyo.

No Beauty Queen

Photo: SOK.se

Sofia Mattsson is a 31-year-old Swedish wrestler from Gällivare who has won a World Championship, four European championships, and an Olympic bronze medal. At age 17 she won the bronze medal in the 48-kilo division at the European Wrestling Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, but famously refused the award “Miss Europe” for being the event’s prettiest competitor, a title offered to young female wrestlers at tournaments in Eastern Europe.

“This is not part of the sport,” said Mattsson. “We are here to excel and win at wrestling.”

Swedish team captain Patrik Jansson backed her up: “It’s a load of rubbish! There are old codgers sitting there deciding who is the prettiest. It’s terrible.”

Armand Duplantis. Photo: Wanda Diamond League

Swedish Sailing Duo

In March 2021, Swedish sailing duo Anton Dahlberg and Fredrik Bergström, reigning European champions, won gold at the 470 World Championship in Vilamoura, Portugal. Now they head to Tokyo as favorites.

Photo: Junichi Hira/Seglingsförbundet Photo: Jessica Gow/TT

Strong As Steel

Swedish discus thrower Daniel Ståhl competed in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where he failed to qualify for the final. However, just a couple of weeks later, he set a new personal best of 68.72 metres, 1/3 of a meter further than gold medalist Christoph Harting had thrown. Then, in June 2017, Ståhl threw for 71.29 metres, setting both a new personal best and a new Swedish record. Ståhl's throw was farther than any discus throw in the world since 2013. In 2019, Ståhl won a gold medal at the World Championships in Doha.