Maja Nilsson, 24, ends her career.
Now she is once again directing enormous criticism at SOK.
– It is something I will never get over, she tells Radiosporten.
High jumper Maja Nilsson was long seen as a huge talent in Swedish athletics, and as a 21-year-old, in 2021, she broke a new personal best when she jumped 1.96. Over the years there have been competitions in the Olympics, WC and EC for Nilsson, but now there will be no more.
Suspended from the Olympics
Over the years, Maja Nilsson has struggled with a persistent knee injury, and earlier this week she announced that it is she who puts an end to continued competition. Already at the age of 24, she chooses to end her career, and she said that “the air has gone out of her”. Maybe it also has to do with all the trips during the summer as well.
Maja Nilsson had hoped to end her career with another Olympics, but it was amid great controversy that she was stopped from participating by the Swedish Olympic Committee. Maja Nilsson had, according to the international admissions, been allowed to compete in the Olympics. But SOK did not think she had performed well enough. They themselves had set a selection limit on jumps between 1.91 and 1.93 in order to go to Paris. Nilsson jumped earlier this year 1.91 – but was still stopped from participating.
“Will never get over it”
Now that she’s finished her career, she’s honest about how much it took on her, and she says it’s a wound that will never heal.
– It is something I will never get over. It is a chance you will forever have lost, she tells Radiosporten.
Maja Nilsson also says that she had been thinking about ending her career after the Olympics all year. Although she saw the end of her career, she believes she could have made an impact while there.
– I had hoped to make another Olympics, and I think I deserve it too, she says, and continues:
– It’s about performing once you’re involved. Certainly you take experience with you for the future, but I think that if I had had the chance to be in Paris, I would have performed well. That is my grudge against SOK, and always will be.
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