Ex-high jumper Kajsa Bergqvist worked as a TV commentator for ten years. He became a celebrity outside of sports because of his relationship issues.
Kajsa Bergqvist45, was known in Sweden for his brilliant sports career, until a good ten years ago he became a celebrity outside of Sport overnight due to his relationship issues.
Ex-husband director-actor Måns Herngren lamented in 2011 in the Swedish afternoon press that Bergqvist left him.
Shortly after the news, Bergqvist said he was in a relationship with a woman.
– Nowadays I am married and everything is fantastic, but it was a difficult time. After my sports career, I was pretty much a private person. And telling such a private matter to the media was difficult. But many people knew about it before, so in retrospect it was certainly the right decision, says Bergqvist.
Helsinki in mind
Kajsa Bergqvist has been the manager of the Swedish national athletics team since last fall. PASI LEISMA
The sports career of the high jumper ended in 2008.
– Helsinki is the best memory for me, he laughs and refers to the 2005 World Championships.
– I missed the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens due to an Achilles tendon injury. It took a long time to rehabilitate my leg, but by the summer of 2005 I was in fantastic shape. I thought before Helsinki, if I don’t win this race, I won’t win anything, the Swede continues.
Bergqvist won the championship with a score of 202. He won after securing three attempts from the ME height of 210.
– The weather was very rainy throughout the Helsinki Games, but during the women’s high altitude competition, the clouds cleared and the sun shone.
Sollentunalainen won a total of six prestigious medals on the outdoor tracks, of which, in addition to the World Championship gold, the brightest are the European Championship gold in 2002 and the Olympic bronze in 2000. The record result of 206 cents is from 2003.
– I was mentally tired from all the pressure when I quit. The goal of my career was to jump 210. I didn’t do it, so it was left behind, the woman recalls.
– It took a few years before I could look at my career and say, wow, I did some pretty amazing performances. Now I can be very proud of them, he continues.
As a leader
Kajsa Bergqvist won the World Championship gold in Helsinki in 2005 with a score of 202. The record of 206 is the fifth best of all time in the world statistics. ME is Stefka Kostadinova’s 209. Kari Kuukka
For the previous ten years, Bergqvist worked as an athletics commentator for the Swedish state-funded media house SVT.
– It gave me a lot of experience and appreciation, not just for the work of the media, but for how precisely an athletics expert needs to know about each sport. It was actually really good preparation for this job.
Bergqvist was introduced to Sweden last September in Stockholm Karin Torneklint as a successor as the leader of the blue and yellow national athletics team.
– It has been very intense, but the year has been fantastic. The best thing is working with these great athletes who have formed a team in the individual sport.
Bergqvist has put the wind in his wash. For example, from the World Championships in Eugene, he quickly left aside those athletes for whom a gig in the United States would have taken more than they gave.
Athletes who reached the World Cup result limit were usually included, but the situation of those who got a place due to the ranking was considered on a case-by-case basis.
– Before the World Championships, you had to show that you are in good shape or on your way to peak fitness. That’s why we didn’t select everyone who was eligible. I stand behind this decision because the European Championship is coming up.
Finland worked completely differently. All eligible athletes were sent to the United States.