PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Julia Henriksson wrote Swedish sports history during the athletics EC.
But for Marie Lehmann, it became extremely emotional in SVT.
– I have never talked about this before, she tells Expressen.
During this year’s athletics EC, many new Swedish names stepped forward and made a big impression. One of them was Julia Henriksson who in the semi-finals of the 200 meters wrote new Swedish sports history.
Haglund’s record
The 23-year-old touched the legend Linda Haglunds the Swedish record that lasted a full 45 years. A historic moment for Swedish athletics, but for one person on the spot in Rome, it became extremely emotional.
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The SVT profile Marie Lehmann grew up in Hanviken, the same place that Haglund comes from, and actually had the Swedish running star as a gym teacher at primary school.
– It was my first meeting with a real elite athlete, that’s how I think back on it today. And that was something I really liked, precisely because she was a very kind person. I had thought that people who are strict, like elite athletes, might not be kind, but Linda was. It was understood that she was doing this for our sake and I thought it was hilarious. I think that’s why I’ve always appreciated sports since then, she says in an interview with Expressen.
Lehmann’s grief
Linda Haglund left a big impression on Marie as a child, when she made gym lessons both fun and meaningful. She also admits that she has never opened up about her close relationship with one of the famous “56”, despite so many years in the sport’s service at SVT.
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Therefore, there was sadness within Lehmann when Henriksson touched the record which was a last memory of Haglund, who passed away in 2015 in the suites of cancer.
– That record is so big for me and I probably never even thought it could be beaten. Then Julia Henriksson comes and does what my big idol did so long ago, says Lehmann to the evening newspaper.
– It was like this… Wow! I thought that evening was absolutely fantastic and I will remember it for the rest of my life, she says.
READ MORE: Desiré Inglander’s beautiful declaration of love to Armand Duplantis after the European Championship gold – praised by the Swedes: “You are so beautiful”
Marie Lehmann’s thoughts went straight to Haglund when the Swedish record was touched during the European Athletics Championships.
– For us in Hanviken, Linda was the big star. And she was the only woman, you shouldn’t underestimate that as a girl. It was very important to me, says the SVT profile in the interview.
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