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Conference turris::scandia

Title:All about Scandinavia
Moderator:TLE::SAVAGE
Created:Wed Dec 11 1985
Last Modified:Tue Jun 03 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:603
Total number of notes:4325

156.0. "Sports in Sweden" by TLE::SAVAGE () Fri Aug 05 1994 13:21

    From: [email protected] (Ahrvid Engholm)
    Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
    Subject: Re: Sweden's National Sport
    Date: 5 Aug 1994 13:39:19 GMT
    Organization: Stacken Computer Club, Stockholm, Sweden
 
    The two most popular sports in Sweden are soccer and ice-hockey (which
    splits very nicely into a winter and summer season). However, if I
    would talk about a national sport, I'd pick orienteering (spelled so in
    English, in Swedish the double-e is single). It is very popular on the
    grassroot level. There is for instance a national 5 day orienteering
    competition that attracts something like 15 000 people. It is also
    in-line with the Swedish state of mind, running around with a map in
    the nature, to find your own way. This sport was also invented in
    Sweden, and Swedish orienteerers are often very competitive on the
    international level.

    There is no "national sports ministry". However, the state has a long
    tradition of supporting sports clubs. This is done on several levels,
    the most important level is to give support for youth activity. Clubs
    will also get a share of gambling activities, like Bingolotto, which
    gives them money. Business life is also sponsoring all leading clubs.
    Much of the practical activity is done on an idealistic basis, with
    people that uses their spare time to work as team leaders, trainers,
    etc.
 
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156.1Davis Cup winTLE::SAVAGEMon Dec 05 1994 12:235
             MOSCOW (Reuter) - Sweden won the Davis Cup Saturday when Jan
    Apell and Jonas Bjorkman won the doubles 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 6-3,
    1-6, 8-6 over Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Andrei Olkhovsky, giving
    Sweden an unbeatable 3-0 lead over Russia in the best-of-five
    finals.
156.2200-meter freestyle relay record brokenTLE::SAVAGEMon Dec 05 1994 12:2613
            STAVANGER, Norway (AP) -- Sweden broke its own world 200-meter
    freestyle relay record by 0.32 seconds with a time of 1 minute,
    27.62 seconds Saturday in the European Sprint Swimming
    Championships.
            Zsolt Hegmegi, Lars-Ove Jansson, Joakim Holmqvist and Per
    Lindstrom swam the 50-meter legs. Holmqvist and Lindstrom were
    members of the Swedish quartet that set the previous mark in the
    1992 championships.
            Germany finished second in 1:29.09 and Croatia third in
    1:30.71.
            ``The record was a big surprise because we've all been sick
    with the flu recently and we were not sure about our form,'' Holmqvist
    said.
156.3Tennis officials quarrelTLE::SAVAGETue Dec 06 1994 10:1544
            STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- A simmering conflict among the nation's
    tennis officials has erupted just 48 hours after Sweden won the
    Davis Cup title in Moscow, reports said Monday.
            All six members of Sweden's national Davis Cup Committee
    announced that they have stepped down, news reports said.
            They said the last straw was a decision by the new Davis Cup
    captain, Carl-Axel Hageskog, to name Anders Jarryd as assistant
    coach without consulting the committee, the Svenska Dagbladet
    newspaper reported.
            Hageskog ``seems to want to take all decisions on his own,''
    committee member Thomas Eklund was quoted as saying.
            Swedish Tennis Federation Chairman Jan Francke, arriving on a
    late flight from Moscow, told a television reporter that the new
    captain has ``a more independent role'' than his predecessors.
            ``But we should be able to talk this (conflict) through,'' he
    said.
            The quarrel gives a sour after-taste to this small nation's
    fifth Davis Cup title. The victory gave new hope after a period of
    decline in Swedish tennis that followed the golden years with Bjorn
    Borg, Mats Wilander and Stefan Edberg in the 1970s and 1980s.
            Sweden won 4-1 over Russia. Many attributed Sweden's success to
    excellent cooperation, high team spirit and raw experience.
            Behind the facade, however, raged the power struggle between
    the board of the Swedish Tennis Federation and its Davis Cup Committee.
    The feud only had been suspended during the Moscow tournament.
            Svenska Dagbladet said the committee, formed in 1989 to
    reignite Swedish tennis, had told the federation before the finals it 
    would resign, but would wait until this week before going public.
            Jonte Sjogren, who capped his Davis Cup captain career with the
    win, told a correspondent in Moscow that the conflict ``is
    lamentable and very sad'' for Swedish tennis.
            Cracks started showing last month, when the federation
    announced a new Davis Cup organization, headed by Hageskog.
            Hageskog, 40, has been a well-respected Davis Cup trainer under
    Sjogren for years. Few contested his appointment. But the committee
    was angered when Hageskog dismissed its choice for Davis Cup
    trainer, Martin Bohm, the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper said.
            Bohm had worked closely with players such as Magnus Larsson and
    Thomas Enqvist. He left his job as tennis federation trainer on
    hearing that he would not be part of the Davis Cup group.
            It was unclear what degree the committee constested the
    appointment of Jarryd himself as assistant coach.
            Jarryd has played for Sweden for 12 years, compiling an overall
    Davis Cup record of 36-17, including 16-3 in singles.    
156.4V�tternrundanTLE::SAVAGEMon Jun 19 1995 12:4436
    From: "David Dermott" <[email protected]>                     
    Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.rides,soc.culture.nordic
    Subject: Lycka till med V�tternrundan
    Date: 16 Jun 1995 11:16:57 -0300
    Organization: Nova Scotia Technology Network
    Sender: [email protected]
 
    Good luck to all those riding in the 30th running of V�tternrundan
    (round Lake V�ttern in Sweden) which happens this Saturday June 17. I
    hope the early morning is warmer than last year (it was 0C at 3 AM).
 
    The VR is the world's biggest one-day bicycle tour and probably the
    world's biggest athletic endurance event.  It is a 300 km ride and
    about 15000 people ride it.  That's quite an accomplishment for Sweden
    which is one of the more sparsely populated countries in Europe.  This
    year there will be a special award to those who have completed all 30
    annual rides. I think there are about 20 people who might get that,
    they have ridden every year since 1966. 
 
    Of course it helps to have 20 hours of full daylight, and a twilight
    that lasts all night.
 
    It is called a "motion lopp", literally exercise race.  It is strictly
    non-competitive, the finishing times of people are not published
 
    My description of my VR 94 experience can be found of the Trento Bike
    Pages -"http://www-math.science.unitn.it/Bike/".  Thanks to Andreas
    Caranti for putting it there. 
 
    Maybe next year I will go back . Oh to be in Norden at midsummer!
 
    --
    David Dermott , Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
    [email protected] 
 
 
156.5Men's tennis and women's golfTLE::SAVAGEThu Aug 31 1995 13:4525
    From: "Riedlinger-Al" <[email protected]>
    To: "International Swedish Interest discussion list"
    Subject: Tennis and golf
                                                                  
    I saw an article in today's USA Today that said that Edberg "Besides
    being a great champion, Stefan Edberg also might be remembered as the
    iron man of grand slam tennis."
    
    He is playing in this year's U.S. Open, making it the 50th consecutive
    grand slam event he has played in, starting in 1983 at WImbledon. He's
    now ranked 19th in the world, having started the year at #7.
    
    Bjorn Borg, Mats Wilander, Edberg, the Davis Cup champs... Swedes have
    not done too bad in international tennis, have they? Do they have any
    other young guys coming up?
    
    Which reminds me of the great success the Swedish women have had the
    LPGA tour ... Lisalotte Neumann, Anika Sorenstam, and Helen Alfredsson
    have all won rookie of the year awards.
    
    Why is it, I wonder, that Swedish men have done great in tennis and
    the Swedish women in golf? I know there are women pro tennis players
    and men pro golfers, but they haven't really done very much.
    
    Al Riedlinger, [email protected]