That’s why Ebba Andersson snubs the Sports Gala – now pleads for big change: “It’s a shame”

Ebba Andersson is nominated for the Jerring prize.
But she is not present at the Sports Gala.
– It’s a shame, she says.

There has been a lot of criticism regarding the Sports Gala’s nominations. The gala takes place on Monday evening, but even though Jonna Sundling won two WC gold medals in Planica last year, and Ebba Andersson won four medals in the same championship, no one is nominated, either for female athlete of the year or performance of the year.

That’s why she’s over

Ebba Andersson is, however, nominated for the Jerring Prize, but should she win, she will not be there to receive perhaps the most prestigious award in Swedish sports. The cross-country team has just competed in Oberhof, and the Sports Gala is therefore somewhat in a pinch, as it usually is for all winter athletes.

For Ebba Andersson, however, there was never any talk of even being able to attend.

– That’s probably the downside of doing a winter sport, the gala falls every year in the middle of our competition season when it’s very intense. It’s a shame, she tells SVT.

The plea for the gala

Ebba Andersson doesn’t know when it would have been better to hold the Sports Gala, but in the future would have liked it to be located somewhere else during the year.

– Yes, preferably where it suited us. At the same time, it might feel a little weird to sum up a year that has been in April or May. But yes, now the odds are low that we winter athletes won’t show up. The sporting aspect must come first, she says.

The Jerring prize is more uneven in advance than it has been for a long time, as Ebba Andersson, among other things, faces Armand Duplantis, the women’s national soccer team, Sandra Näslund and Daniel Ståhl.

– It will be exciting. But I also know that the competition is tough, so I don’t expect anything, says Ebba Andersson.