Sweden's best junior skier was not selected for the Junior World Championship because he did not participate in the qualifying competitions. Alvar Myhlback chose his own approach, including long-distance skiing.
The Swedish Ski Association's decision has become a topic of discussion and is now being criticized by Keith Karlsson, who has been an agent for several Swedish sports profiles. Among others, Gunde Svan, Pernilla Wiberg, Charlotte Kalla, and Susanna Kallur.
Stars who achieved success, sometimes by daring to go their own way.
"Called diva"
They also received a lot of criticism for this. Gunde Svan, for example, was called a diva when he brought his own lunch boxes to the Olympic Games in Calgary 1988 and had his own training methods. Now he is being hailed at the Sports Gala, just like many other athletes who dared to make their own plans, says Keith Karlsson.
He has closely followed the stars of the past struggle against criticism for something they believed in. Now he sees the same thing happening to Alvar Myhlback.
This is a copy-paste of what happened to Gunde Svan. A Junior World Championship may be lost for a talent like Myhlback. But this does not send the right signals to those who want to go their own way to become the best in the world. Then you have to be special, says Keith Karlsson and continues:
"Brave"
Myhlback is brave to do this. That he doesn't listen to the association is a sign of freshness. The older ones should listen to the younger ones and especially to him. Here we have a guy who deviates a lot from the crowd. Let him be. The association should have listened to his wish to skip the qualifying competitions. They are not helping Myhlback by not selecting him. They are helping the opponents who get a greater chance to win gold.
TT has sought Linda Danvind Malm, coach for the Swedish junior national team, for a comment.
Sweden's national team manager Anders Byström said the other day to TT:
He has known what applies, we wrote that already last autumn and have made it clear to all skiers. And it becomes difficult to change something mid-season, then it becomes wrong.
