Saturday, August 09, 2008

Let the Games Begin - Sweden's 2008 Olympic Team

With the Olympics here and me watching from a different country for the first time I thought I would throw myself into the Swedish Olympic Team. And obviously, I'm dragging all of you in with me.

From a variety of different sites I’ve managed to put together a little Swedish Olympic Team roster. And managed to put together means basically that other people did the work and I just copy and pasted, translated a little, edited a little and went with it. So in all fairness you should check out the following sites where I got the information: Idrottsevenemang.se, Wikinews, and sok.se.

The list is long so bear with me. I actually do write some halfway original thoughts towards the end. And so without further ado, here is the 2008 Olympic Team from Sweden:

Archery
Magnus Petersson

Badminton
Sara Persson

Boxing
Kennedy Katende
Naim Terbunja

Canoe/Kayak
Anders Gustavsson
Markus Oscarsson
Sofia Paldanius

Cycling
Alexandra Engen
Emma Johansson
Fredrik Kessiakoff
Gustav Larsson
Emil Lindgren
Marcus Ljungqvist
Susanne Ljungskog
Thomas Lövkvist
Saara Mustonen

Diving
Elina Eggers
Anna Lindberg

Equestrian
Equestrian, team, Show Jumping
Equestrian, team, Dressage
Equestrian, team, 3-Day Event
Dag Albert
Linda Algotsson
Rolf-Göran Bengtsson
Jan Brink
Viktoria Carlerbäck
Peter Eriksson
Magnus Gällerdal
Patrik Kittel
Helena Lundbäck
Katrin Norling
Lotta Schultz
Tinne Vilhelmsson (now Silfvén)

Fencing
Emma Samuelsson

Handball
Women
Therese Bengtsson
Madeleine Grundström
Tina Flognman
Matilda Boson
Sara HolmgrenTherese Helgesson
Annika Wiel Fredén
Teresa Utkovic
Jessica Enström
Johanna Wiberg,Sara Eriksson
Linnea Torstensson
Johanna Alm
Frida Toveby
Isabella Gulldén

Rowing
Lassi Karonen
Frida Svensson

Shooting
Håkan Dahlby
Nathalie Larsson

Soccer
Women
Hedvig Lindahl
Kristin Hammarström
Karolina Westberg
Stina Segerström
Anna Paulson
Sara Thunebro
Sara Larsson
Charlotte Rohlin
Caroline Seger
Frida Östberg
Josefine Öqvist
Therese Sjögran
Linda Forsberg
Nilla Fischer
Lotta Schelin
Jessica Landström
Hanna Ljungberg, Injured
Victoria Svensson
Johanna Almgren
Lisa Dahlkvist
Caroline Jönsson

Swimming
Women
Therese Alshammar
Anna-Karin Kammerling
Sarah Sjöström
Hanna Westrin
Eva Berglund
Gabriella Fagundez
Petra Granlund
Claire Hedenskog
Joline Höstman
Josefin Lillhage
Ida Mattson (now Marko-Varga)
Hanna Westrin
Swimming, team, 4*100 m free
Swimming, team, 4*200 m free
Swimming, team, 4*100 m medley

Men
Jonas Andersson
Lars Frölander
Stefan Nystrand
Jonas Persson
Marcus Piehl
Simon Sjödin
Petter Stymne
Christoffer Wikström
Swimming, team, 4*100 m free
Swimming, team, 4*100 m medley

Table Tennis
Pär Gerell
Jörgen Persson
Jens Lundqvist
Table Tennis, Team, 3 players

Taekwondo
Karolina Kedzierska
Hanna Zajc

Tennis
Simon Aspelin, doubles
Sofia Arvidsson, singles
Jonas Björkman, singles and doubles
Thomas Johansson, singles and doubles
Robin Söderling, singles and doubles

Track and Field
Women
Emma Green
Susanna Kallur
Carolina Klüft
Anna Söderberg

Men
Stefan Holm
Mustafa Mohamed
Christian Olsson, Injured
Linus Thörnblad
Johan Wissman
Magnus Arvidsson
Niklas Arrhenius
Jesper Fritz
Alhaji Jeng

Triathlon
Lisa Nordén

Wrestling
Ara Abrahamian
Jenny Fransson
Ida-Theres Nerell (formerly Karlsson)
Sofia Mattsson
Jalmar Sjöberg

Yachting/Sailing
Anton Dahlberg
Daniel Birgmark
Anders Ekström
Fredrik Lööf
Rasmus Myrgren
Karin Söderström
Therese Torgersson
Vendela Zachrisson (now Santén)
Sebastian Östling

Sweden is not represented in the following sports:
Artistic or rhythmic gymnastics
Baseball
Basketball (A quick side note. I had the privilege of watching the Swedish national basketball team practice a while back. On a green plastic floor surrounded by netting. With a big group of kids in wheelchairs playing a game and screaming. For those of you who think I hate wheelchair kids I don’t. They didn’t need wheel chairs. It was some sort of activity. I don’t really know. Team building maybe. Or jämställdhet if you will. Anyway, the practice was good. Interesting. Not quite like watching the American national basketball team. But fun nonetheless. They were missing two of their biggest stars who were busy prepping for the NBA draft. Both ended up pulling out at the deadline but Swedish basketball seems to have come a long ways. That being said, having watched them practice they have a long ways to go. And I definitely see why they will not be competing in Beijing.)
Field Hockey
Handball (Men)
Judo
Modern Pentathlon
Soccer
(Men)
Softball
Synchronized Swimming
Trampoline
Volleyball
or Beach Volleyball
Water Polo
Weightlifting

As of me writing this Sweden has yet to take home a medal. Though it is only the first day of competition so let’s give them all a break. The injury to Ljungberg on the soccer team was a big blow as evidenced by the loss to China. They did come back and beat Argentina 1-0 today with a little inspiration from their coach. Sweden must now rely on Canada beating China and then of course winning their next game against Canada. So it is possible that Sweden can redeem themselves after that opening loss and possibly fight their way to a medal.

On the track and field side injuries have put a bit of a damper on the medal hunt also. The injury to Christian Olsson is a big blow seeing as how he is the reigning Olympic champion from Athens.

Another big medal hope, Susanna Kallur (who I have a slight crush on despite the fact that I tend to prefer women who don’t have shoulders broader than mine) is also battling an injury but seems to be coming into form at just the right time. This could come down to the wire for her, but people are a bit nervous here in Sweden.

We’ll see how it all goes. But I expect Sweden to take home a medal or two in track and field. I’m counting on Stefan Holm in the high jump and for Kallur to (wo)man up and grab at least a bronze.

I’m expecting a medal, possibly two, in wrestling from Ida-Theres Nerell and Ara Abrahamian if his 33-year old body can hold up to the rigors and pressure of one more shot at Olympic gold.

A medal or two in swimming isn’t out of the question with Therese Alshammar and Stefan Nystrand in the mix.

And of course I’m expecting a couple of medals in the more obscure sports. Shooting perhaps, maybe an equestrian medal.

In 2004 at the Olympic Games in Athens, Sweden finished with a total of seven medals. Four gold medals, two silver medals, and one bronze. All in all a medal count nearing double digits would really surprise me probably be considered a huge success. I’m expecting closer to six medals. With a max of two golds.

So there you have it. All you need to know about the Swedish Olympic Team. As long as all you were interested in was the roster.

Welcome to Sweden. And the 2008 Olympics.

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13 comments:

  1. I don't really care much about the olympics.. fine football and icehockey tournaments.. but.. "OS i Peking" bleh..

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  2. Impressive list of Swedish participants. Coming from Norway I hope we'll meet at least in the woman football and handball final :-)

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  3. @matilda - come on now. its the olympics. once every four years. athletes from around the world. the sporting spirit. all that good stuff. plus they are just damn good at what they do. and there is a soccer tournament in the middle of all of this.

    @rennyba - yeah it wasn't a bad list at all for Sweden. and it seems that the women dominate percentage-wise. kind of interesting.

    a sweden-norway showdown in either sport could make for some good tv and a pretty lively party I would imagine.

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  4. 17 year old boys win over all these female football teams, I hate to say it but it's boring.. I love football, and I've been to womens football games on Råsunda, sweden japan I think a few years ago, and.. it's just. boring.

    olypmics is nice to watch when you've got nothing to do or have the tv on when you're doing something else so you're not really watching haha, it's nice and all, but it's nothing I get too excited about, and honestly.. I don't think I know anyone who does.

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  5. well to be honest I cant even stand to watch a mens game, let alone a 17 year old boys game or a womens game when it comes to soccer. but thats just my dislike for that particular sport.

    I suppose just like soccer isnt for everyone the olympics aren't for everyone either.

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  6. yeah, and you're american and americans probably care alot more about the olympics, football and icehockey are more popular over here

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  7. I dunno... the olympics have a lot of other sports to compete with that Americans watch on a regular basis. the average american could care less about most of the sports in th eolympics. of course the average american is also innundated by an incredible marketing campaign for the olympics.

    either way I hope I write enough about other things to keep you entertained so its not just all sports over the next week or so.

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  8. Sweden got a medal yesterday.
    Think 4 have chance to gold:
    1. Holm, hig jump
    2. Kallur, 100 m h
    3. Nystrand, 50 m fritt

    And tomorrow Dahlby with the riffle!!!

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  9. you're right... I actually wrote about that medal Sweden’s First Olympic Gold – Silver to Emma Johansson.

    You bring up some good chances at gold. We'll see how it goes. It just seems that the Swedes often times choke in situations where they are favored. The previous Summer Olympics shows that pretty well unfortunately. But I'd be all for seeing a few gold medals. Hell a silver medal got all kinds of press, I can't even imagine what a gold in a high profile sport like track and field would mean.

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  10. The only thing I'm going to watch is seriously only the football, both men and women. That's why I'm so pissed that Sweden isn't competing in the men's football tournament. Does anyone have any idea why? Becuase, the thing is I haven't heard anything about any qualifications of this tournament and I really like football so. I mean it can't be that only the ebst ranked teams were qualified because teams like USA, Belgium and Nigeria are in the tournament.

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  11. this is the best I could do for you. it seems they only take four teams from europe:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_at_the_2008_Summer_Olympics_-_Qualification

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