10 Swedish sports stars

2. Armand Duplantis – pole vault supremo

Born to an American father and a Swedish mother, pole vaulter Armand 'Mondo' Duplantis grew up in the US. Duplantis holds dual citizenship, and we’re glad he is known as one of our Swedish sports stars. 

This super talent dominates in athletics like very few. At the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, ‘Mondo’ broke his own world record when he cleared 6.25 metres at the third attempt. Earlier that night, he had retained his Olympic title with a ‘modest’ 6.00 metre leap. 

Duplantis made his first international mark at the 2018 European Championships in Berlin, Germany, where he won the gold by clearing 6.05 metres. He was 18 at the time, which made him the youngest ever to clear 6 metres. 

The results have been coming ever since. To date, Duplantis boasts two Olympic golds, two outdoor World Championships, two indoor World Championships, three outdoor European Championships, and one indoor European Championship. 

He holds the world record since 2020, and has polished it more than a handful times – his current record stands at 6.26 metres.

For Duplantis, the sky seems to be the only limit. 

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3. Daniel Ståhl – discus dominant

Daniel Ståhl’s surname means ‘steel’ in Swedish – quite fitting for a discus thrower with both Olympic and World Championship golds in his baggage. 

When Ståhl triumphed at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, he secured Sweden’s first World Championship gold in athletics on the men’s side since 2003. Another two international golds have followed since. 

 At the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan – staged in 2021 – he arrived as the overwhelming favourite after finishing several seasons as the world number one. And he delivered, with a winning throw already in the second round, 68.90 metres. 

 At the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, he faced more adversity and only sealed the gold on his final attempt, with a throw of 71.46 metres. 

At the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in a highly competitive final, Ståhl managed a seventh place. 

4. Ebba Årsjö – alpine daredevil

Ebba Årsjörapidly established herself on the Para alpine skiing scene by winning two World Cup races in her debut season (2019–2020). She has since grown into something of a titan in her sport.

In 2024, she won the overall World Cup, and to date, Årsjö has three world championships golds to her name – the most recent one coming in the super-G at the 2023 World Para Alpine Skiing Championships in Espot, Spain. 

 At the 2022 Paralympics in Beijing, she first raced to a downhill bronze before winning golds both in the super-combined and in slalom. 

 Årsjö was born with Klippel-Trénaunay syndrome, but opted to keep it a secret most of her childhood as she trained and competed with the junior elite in Sweden. At the age of 17, her right-leg strength seriously began affecting her skiing, and in 2019 she formally switched to Para sports.   

5. Elias Pettersson – star on ice

Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Pettersson has been touted as Sweden’s next big thing in ice hockey.  That’s a lot to live up to if you’re from a country with past greats such as Peter Forsberg, Mats Sundin and Nicklas Lidström.

But Pettersson's potential is unquestionable and many will argue that he's a complete player by now.  Beyond all his offensive qualities, Pettersson is now often mentioned as a potential captain for Vancouver, thanks to his selfless work rate and defensive acumen, along with his drive and team spirit. 

At the age of 20, Pettersson was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy in 2019 as rookie of the year through his performances at Vancouver during the 2018–2019 season. In 2018, he helped Sweden to a World Championship gold. 

The Stanley Cup still eludes him, however. At the 2024 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, Pettersson and the Canucks lost to Edmonton in the quarter-finals in the seventh and decisive game. Earlier in 2024, Pettersson extended his contract with Vancouver for another eight years.   

6. Frida Karlsson – cross-country hope

In 2023, Frida Karlsson made history as the winner of the 2022–2023 Tour de Ski season – the second Swedish woman to date, after Charlotte Kalla. 

She clinched it in dramatic fashion, to say the least, as she collapsed after the final sprint race in Val di Fiemme, Italy. Having completed the gruelling hill climb  up the Alpe Cermis, Karlsson needed medical help.  

Back at the 2019 world championships in Seedorf, Karlsson was part of the Sweden team that clinched the gold in the 4X5 km relay. And at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, Karlsson and Sweden won the bronze in the same event. At the 2023-2024 Tour de Ski, Karlsson finished the season in fourth place.

 Karlsson is one of the Swedish sports stars in the making. She boasts no individual championship golds at international level to date, but our bet is they will come.  

7. Isabelle Haak – Sweden's volleyball star

In regular volleyball, Sweden has one unquestionable great – Isabelle Haak.  She was only 14 when she made her national team debut. And in 2024, she spearheaded Sweden in the country’s first European Golden League win. 

Haak has amassed volleyball championship titles from the Italian and Turkish leagues – both regarded as top-tier – as well as the Champions League and the Club World Championships, and that’s just naming a fraction.    

In 2022, at the Club World Championships in Antalya, Türkiye, she was named Most Valuable Player – for the second time in a row.    

The same year, Haak left Istanbul volleyball club VakıfBank after three years and returned for her second spell in Italy by joining team Imoco Volley Conegliano.   

8. Fridolina Rolfö – versatile footballer

Fridolina Rolfö has been awarded the Diamond Ball (Diamantbollen) as Sweden’s best player twice, and she continues to triumph.  

Since 2021, she has played for Barcelona. In 2024, Rolfö helped the Spanish team retain their Women’s Champions League title, even though her role in the final against Lyon was less evident compared with the previous year. Back in 2023, she scored the 3–2 winner for Barcelona in their win over VfL Wolfsburg.  

At the 2023 Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, Rolfö scored three goals to help Sweden to a third place. She now has two World Cup bronze medals and two Olympic silvers.  

In the Sweden team, the hard-shooting and physically strong Rolfö is known as a striker, but in Barcelona she has come to feature quite often as a fullback, albeit with an offensive role.  

Rolfö made her national team debut back in 2014, at the age of 20. After winning the Swedish league title in 2016 with Linköping FC, Rolfö embarked on her international club career. 

9. Ludvig Åberg – superstar in the making

He only turned professional in June 2023, but Ludvig Åberg is already the world’s most talked-about young golfer. Famed for his calm on the course, this Swede is touted by many as the next superstar of golf. The Daily Mail have called Åberg ‘the epitome of grace under pressure’. 

Fresh out of Texas Tech University, Åberg won his first professional tournament 75 days after joining the paid ranks. That’s when he eclipsed everyone at the Omega European Masters in Switzerland, on the European tour.  

Later, at the Ryder Cup in Rome, Italy, Åberg made history as the first player ever to feature in the team event without having contested a Major championship. And yes, he won the Cup with Team Europe.  

In November 2023, he won his first PGA tournament (North America) by tying the PGA Tour’s 72-hole scoring record. The speed at which he has climbed the rankings has not been seen since a certain Tiger Woods.  

In 2024, Åberg made his Major debut, finishing second at the 2024 Masters at Augusta National, the US. 

10. Sarah Sjöström – the swimmer who can't stop winning

Sara Sjöström was only 14 when she won her first international gold medal: the 100-metre butterfly at the 2008 European Championships. But just how great she would become, few could have predicted.  

By now, Sjöström is widely regarded as one of the greatest sprinters of all time.  

Her dominance was most recently on display at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she won both the 50m freestyle and the 100m freestyle. Sjöström now boasts six individual medals from the last three Olympics – three golds, two silvers and one bronze. 

To date, Sjöstrom has also won 15 individual world titles across the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 50m butterfly and 100m butterfly. The question is when the count will stop for Sjöström.  

There is a Rocky Balboa element to Sjöström’s story. By now, she’s won nearly everything there is to win in swimming, but as a child, in her first-ever competition, she failed miserably by starting with a belly splash. How’s that for rising from a fall?