PHOTO: Bildbyrån
He is one of our top skiing heroes ever.
But Thomas Wassberg does not like to take a place and likes to stay in the dark.
Now he cannot remain silent any longer and airs his enormous criticism of Sweden.
There are few Swedish skiers who can measure up Thomas Wassberg’s impressive track record. He is one of our top cross-country skiers of all time and will forever have a place in the blue-yellow hearts of the Swedish people.
Wassberg’s career
Wassberg has won four Olympic golds, three WC golds, three WC silvers and a WC bronze, and was awarded both the Bragdguldet and the Holmenkollen medal in 1980. Together with his teammate Gunde Swan the duo dominated cross-country skiing for many years.
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After his active career, Thomas has continued to have a leg in skiing through his great involvement in the classic club Åsarna IK. In recent years, together with his wife Ulrike, he has also opened up his home and heart to unaccompanied refugee children.
Anger against Sweden
In 2013 Reza arrived and in 2015 Ali arrived from war-torn Afghanistan. The two bonus children have given Thomas Wassberg completely new perspectives.
– I have learned about another culture and what it is really like. I would not have taken an interest in what it is like in Afghanistan if they had not come and told me. We in the West blame Putin, that Russia is doing a lot wrong, but it is the USA that is ruining everything. Putin has a better world view than those who have been presidents in the United States, he says in an old interview with Aftonbladet.
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The Swedish skiing icon has always been known for keeping to himself and always going his own way. After his skiing career, he has maintained a withdrawn style, but now he can no longer keep quiet and airs his great criticism of his home country.
– Yes, but I am damned disappointed in the Swedish government and the Swedish Migration Agency who are sending Afghan boys back. I don’t understand what they are doing. They don’t have a sigh there, especially not such boys who have come to us. They belong to the Hazara ethnic group, which is jumped on by both the government and the Taliban, an annoyed Wassberg admits to the evening newspaper.
– Exactly how Afghan boys are treated is deplorable. Yes, it’s sick. They are basically sent to their deaths at the same time as criminals who can’t be deported are screwed. It’s a scandal.
READ MORE: Thomas Wassberg’s completely honest words about the relationship with Gunde Svan today – confirm what everyone suspected: “Maybe that’s why…”
The fate of the bonus children has made the 67-year-old see things in a completely different way and he is frankly irritated by the Swedish integration policy. The 67-year-old has thought about starting to get involved politically, but it never happened.
– Yes, but I have shelved that. I can not take it. There’s so much text and stuff to get into. I don’t know what the politicians are up to. What you can write on an A4, they write on ten. I’m so tired of reading everything. There is no point in reading a lot of word distortions, he says in the interview.
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