Perseus Karlström kicked off the WC in Budapest with his silver in the 20 kilometer race. Daniel Ståhl then answered for a powerful decision when he took home the gold in the discus final.
Then the Swedes had to wait for Armand Duplantis, who lived up to expectations when he jumped 6.10 and secured the gold in the pole vault.
The achievements mean that Sweden stays at three total medals, of which two are gold. A harvest which means that it will be tenth place in the medal league for the Swedish part.
– I think, overall, a great effort by the Swedish squad. The stars deliver 100 percent, we get two golds, one silver in an incredible way. Then we have many personal records and annual bests, says Swedish national team captain Kajsa Bergqvist and continues:
– I would have liked a few more to have made it to the final. I think sometimes we have the margins against us, sometimes it’s a bit of an underperformance. But overall it’s a good effort by the squad and in terms of medals it’s one of our best ever.
Passed by Norway
In the closing Sunday evening, Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen managed to secure the gold in the 5,000 meters after a strong sprint. A gold which means that Norway passes Sweden in the medal league, where they enter ninth place.
– It was quite expected. Norway is actually a better athletics nation right now and you can see that they have several outstanding positions behind the medalists. Norway is in a good “flow” and it usually happens in cycles and right now Norway is in a good time period, says TV4 expert Carolina Klüft and continues:
– Norway has stars and that inspires them there. We saw Gilje Nordås who was a medalist in the 1,500 and it is clear that they want to show that they can fight for the medals.
German fiasco
But even if Sweden gets passed by neighboring Norway in the medal league, it could have been much worse. The former great nation, Germany, did not manage to win a single medal at the entire championship. A worrying sign, which may have its explanations.
– They lost a long jump star before the championship with Malaika Mahambo. Otherwise, it feels like she could have participated and fought for the gold in the long jump, analyzed Carolina Klüft before summing up:
– You should also know that they invest hard in their actives.
WC medal league
1. United States – 12 gold – 8 silver – 9 bronze – 29 in total
2. Canada – 4 gold – 2 silver – 0 bronze – 6 in total
3. Spain – 4 Gold – 1 Silver – 0 Bronze – 5 in total
4. Jamaica – 3 gold – 5 silver – 4 bronze – 12 in total
5. Kenya – 3 gold – 3 silver – 4 bronze – 10 in total
6. Ethiopia – 2 gold – 4 silver – 3 bronze – 9 in total
7. Great Britain and Northern Ireland – 2 gold – 3 silver – 5 bronze – 10 in total
8. Netherlands – 2 gold – 1 silver – 2 bronze – 5 in total
9. Norway – 2 Gold – 1 Silver – 1 Bronze – 4 in total
10. Sweden – 2 gold – 1 silver – 0 bronze – 3 in total
Footnote: The medal league is based primarily on the number of golds a nation has won.