On Saturday, the athletics world championships begin in Budapest, where Sweden has several medal hopes. Among them are Daniel Ståhl, Khaddi Sagnia and Carl Bengtström. TV4 Nyheterna is on site in the Hungarian capital to take the temperature of the Swedish athletes before the start.
– I only focus on myself. I have no pressure anymore – I’m an Olympic champion and a world champion and I go in and enjoy the sport. I try to do the best I can then we’ll see how it turns out, says Daniel Ståhl.
Among the competitors from Sweden are Daniel Ståhl, Khaddi Sagnia and Carl Bengtström.
Armand Duplantis, Perseus Karlström and Thobias Montler are also some of the competitors who are seen as the country’s biggest medal hopes.
Carl Bengtström, who was sidelined with injuries during the summer, says that he enters the championship with the goal of breaking a personal record.
– I’ve had pretty good weeks of training, so I definitely think I’m good for that. You should be able to get through to a semi if you run a few tenths faster than the perset, he says.
“Aware that it will be a gamble”
Long jumper Khaddi Sagnia has also had a challenging time behind her due to injuries and says she will make the best of the situation.
– It is better than it has been. It’s been crazy the past few months and I haven’t been able to exercise at all – no running, no jumping. It has been weeks and months of cycling and rehab training. It hasn’t been so much fun when you were looking forward to competing in the WC. But now we are here and trying to make the best of the situation, she says.
– I have known that it will be a gamble – there is a 50 percent chance that it will go well and a 50 percent chance that it could go badly. Before I went here, I spoke with my coach and we agree that it’s okay if things don’t go as they should.
“Large and broad Swedish squad”
TV4 Nyheternas reporter Mattias Tjärnström tells us that it is a large Swedish squad that is in place for the upcoming world championship in Budapest.
– We can state that we have a large and broad Swedish squad on site, 32 active. I spoke with the national team captain Kajsa Bergqvist yesterday who said that a reasonable distribution of medals for Sweden would be around three or four, he says directly from the city.
Stream the Athletics World Cup on TV4 Play
TV4 broadcasts from the Athletics World Championships in Budapest 2023 between 19 and 27 August with several Swedish medal hopefuls and international world stars.