I am so incredibly grateful that he believes in me and wants to support and help me. I have had to work a lot on the side to pay rent and things like that. So it is clear that it is not the same stress for me when I receive such support, Frida Westman tells TT.
She has previously been critical of the fact that female ski jumpers only receive around 55,000 kronor for a World Cup victory, compared to the men's just over 165,000 kronor. However, the financial aspect is no longer as decisive for Westman, who was selected for the Winter Olympics in Italy on Tuesday.
"Of course, we would have liked it to be equal, but now it's not. But he (Gardell) is just an incredible person who does things like that and helps practitioners in that way," she says.
Neither Westman nor Gardell state how much money is involved, but the support is described as a "substantial amount."
"She is a warrior. An elite athlete in the truest sense of the word – who continues to fight despite six knee surgeries and conditions that barely exist," he says in a statement.
Gardell, who runs the activist fund Cevian Capital, has previously sponsored skiers Jonna Sundling and William Poromaa, beach volleyball players David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig, and judoka Tara Babulfath, among others.
