Patrik Sjöberg has a new assignment – as ambassador for a gala in Qatar.
But the high jump icon fights back against any criticism.
– Those who complain can initiate and do things themselves, he tells Expressen.
He is one of our greatest athletes of all time, with a track record few track and field athletes can match. Patrik Sjöberg wrote himself into the Swedish sports hit story when he jumped 2.42 at the Stockholm Stadium. It was not only Sjöberg’s personal best, but also a new world record.
The new assignment
Sjöberg also won a WC gold and three Olympic medals, and was for several years the world’s best pole vaulter. In recent years, Sjöberg has run a website where adults who seek contact with children are confronted and publicly hanged. But now he is ready for another assignment – outside of Sweden.
Qatari superstar Mutaz Essa Barshim, who has jumped the world’s second highest jump of all time, is having a high jump gala in Qatar on May 10. Ambassadors for the competition are Patrik Sjöberg, with the third highest jump of all time, and Javier Sotomayor, who is the world record holder. For Sjöberg, it was obvious to stand up.
– I don’t say yes to everything I’m asked about, but I go around on things like this every now and then. In the athletics world, I am still a respected profile and I am bigger abroad than in Sweden, says Sjöberg to Expressen.
Says off: “You can take care of that”
Patrik Sjöberg believes that his reputation in Sweden is no longer connected to what he did in athletics. That picture is different abroad.
– I don’t say yes to everything I’m asked about, but I go around on things like this every now and then. In the athletics world, I am still a respected profile and I am bigger abroad than in Sweden, says Sjöberg.
Qatar has been heavily criticized in recent years, and accused of sports washing. Especially in connection with the soccer World Cup, the country was sawn for violations of human rights. But Sjöberg now dismisses any criticism.
– Criticizing me for this is up to you journalists. If you have views on a country, you can contact the embassy. For me as an athlete, I felt it was nice to meet Barshim and Sotomayor and to continue to be in contact with the world of athletics. The high jump is my passion and I am grateful that I continue to promote the sport. That is what is close to my heart, so I let others handle the political part, he says, and continues:
– Those who complain can initiate and do things themselves.
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