The last time a skater took home Svenska Dagbladet’s achievement gold was in 1988, but when it was that time again on Tuesday, 34 years later, the protagonist himself took it all in stride.
At least that was the signal that Nils van der Poel sent when he met the assembled press at the central station in Gothenburg wearing a winter jacket and with a backpack hanging loosely over his shoulders.
When TV4 Nyheternas’ reporter reached out to van der Poel and asked the question how he reacted to the news, he answered quickly – with a proper tan.
– Did you have to ask that question, van der Poel asked himself between laughs.
In the end, van der Poel admitted that it was flattering to receive the award, especially if it comes from other recognized athletes, but at the same time it was difficult to deal with the uproar after the award.
– I think that there are more powerful things that happen in Swedish sports than someone thinking that I have done something good, said van der Poel.