PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Alhaji Jeng touches all Swedes in his summer talk.
With the most beautiful tribute to Henrik Larsson.
– Henrik, you don’t know me, I don’t know you. But thank you, thank you for being there and for making it, says the SVT expert in “Summer in P1”.
Today is Alhaji Jeng a valued expert commentator at SVT on athletics broadcasts. Previously, he was one of Sweden’s best pole vaulters on the men’s side.
Jeng’s upbringing
Now he has completed his participation in the classic “Summer in P1” and then opens up about his upbringing in Sweden. Jeng was born in Gambia but came to Swedish soil at a young age and has since represented Blågult in major championships.
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But Alhaji has had to struggle all his life and has had to endure racism.
– My whole life has been characterized by being identified as a foreigner, so the feeling of belonging to the Swedish has faded more and more, he says in his summer talk.
– I always felt that as long as I perform, Sweden can ignore my skin color, as if being Swedish had anything to do with success. It has created wounds.
Paying homage to “Henke”
Alhaji Jeng found a great role model to look up to, one who made the impossible possible and had the same complexion. It became the football icon Henrik Larsson who helped him through the very worst periods.
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“Henke” became a blue-yellow national icon and the pole vaulter’s great hero at a young age.
– He was the only proof that what I dreamed of could become reality. In March, he said in an interview that he doesn’t feel completely Swedish either, and definitely not before he started performing. If you are nobody, you don’t matter, if you are something, you must be part of society, he says emotionally.
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Jeng then concludes with the most heartwarming tribute to Larsson. These are truly words that enter the hearts of all Swedes.
– Henrik, you don’t know me, I don’t know you. But thank you, thank you for being there and for having endured. Thank you for your achievements, your attitude to sports and your example that has come to play such a big role in my life, he says in the summer program.
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