Sarah Sjöström made swimming history in the WC last year.
Now Jacob Hård sticks out his chin about the star.
– That is what characterizes the really great athletes, says Hård to SVT.
It was during the summer that Sarah Sjöström once again cemented her place in the absolute top tier in swimming history. Sjöström chose to go down to only swim two distances during the WC in long course, from five at the previous WC, to two.
Historic WC gold
She did it to put her whole heart into the 50m butterfly and 50m freestyle, and it turned out to be a stroke of luck. She first won gold in butterfly in convincing fashion, and with that gold she touched Michael Phelps’ record for individual World Cup medals in long course. The next day came the next big hit.
Sarah Sjöström made it to the final in the 50 meter freestyle after breaking a new world record. Once in the final, Sjöström was once again superior, and she won by more than half a second(!) ahead of the runner-up, and she was also only a hundredth from breaking the world record again. With his second gold in as many days, Sjöström went up as the only one in swimming history with the most individual WC medals.
Hård’s powerful words
And Sjöström’s achievements are something that Jacob Hård will carry with him for a long time. In SVT, the profile has ranked five achievements that he remembers from Swedish sports in 2023, and there Sjöström gets a given place.
– What characterizes the really great athletes is that they perform year after year after year. It has been 14 years since Sarah Sjöström won her first WC gold. This summer she won two more, and also set a world record, says Hård.
Jacob Hård also sticks out his chin when it comes to Sarah Sjöström’s status in Swedish sports, where, according to Hård, she now has a place among the very greatest.
– She is one of our very greatest, in all categories, of all time, says Hård, who also concludes with a glimpse of what is to come in 2024, in the form of the Olympics.
– I am so looking forward to Paris this summer.
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