Monica Svensson’s background is a strange dispute with the Swedish national team.
Monica Svensson competed in the Sweden match at the Olympic Stadium. Jussi Eskola
Monica Svensson43, was the most experienced participant in the match against Sweden at the weekend.
For Svensson, the national match was already the fourteenth of his career. The walker was involved for the first time in 1997.
On Sunday, he set his season’s best time of 24:20.44 in five kilometers and was fourth. Finland took a triple victory.
– It was great to do the best of the season in a national match. The atmosphere was wonderful when there are many spectators, the Swede praised.
Svensson started playing sports by running. He has also competed in marathons.
– I am much better at walking. Of course, I give tips to younger people if I can, he laughed.
Svensson has competed in numerous EC and World Championships in his career. She previously held the women’s 50km unofficial world record.
The career has not always been smooth sailing, because According to Expressen Svensson had a falling out with the national team in 2007. He was kicked out of the Beijing Olympic team a year later.
The manager of the national team at the time Siv Karlström according to the argument, it was about Svensson’s bad technique.
The situation escalated in 2009, when Svensson called Karlström a dictator in a radio interview. In an interview with a Swedish newspaper, the pedestrian claimed that Karlström had threatened him.
– Siv wanted me to write a public apology because I called him a dictator in a radio interview. He said he could pour crap into my drink if I didn’t apologize, the walker claimed at the time.
Karlström, on the other hand, accused the pedestrian of bullying.
Back to the Games
Siv Karlström was the other party to the dispute. Jussi Saarinen
Svensson ended his career in 2010, but returned to the tracks four years later.
The national team collar was officially removed in 2015, when Svensson was involved in the Sweden match.
Nowadays, Svensson accumulates 8–9 training kilometers per week. It’s less than before, but the sneaker is still going up.
Walking is a fairly small sport in Sweden, as well as in Finland. The status of the sport saddens Svensson.
– I hope that the situation will change. The sport needs to get money so that the resources are in order. The sport needs to be brought out more in athletics schools and get young people to try it.
The career end date has not been specified.
– I have no back limit. The national match will celebrate its centenary in three years. That might be a good goal.