At the end of August, Maja Åskag won twice at Finnkampen and brought her season to a close.
She has just completed the best season of her career.
But the summer also took its toll, not least because she competed in both the long jump and triple jump.
At the European Championships, which lasted just seven days, it was of course tough to make four starts (two qualifiers and two finals). We’ll see how it goes at the World Championships next year. I don’t even know what the daily schedule will look like then or what my form will be like, says Maja Åskag.
Seventh and ninth
She finished seventh in the long jump and ninth in the triple jump at the European Championships in Birmingham. At last year’s World Championships, she also placed slightly higher in the long jump than in the triple jump, finishing ninth and 11th, respectively.
I feel like I’ve taken big steps forward and, above all, improved in the long jump more than I perhaps expected, says Åskag, whose season’s best of 6.89 metres this summer leaves her just 10 centimetres short of Erica Johansson’s Swedish record.
How do you feel about possibly choosing one event in the future?
It’s really hard. It would be one thing if I were much better in one discipline, but right now I feel like I’m equally good at both. So which one should I choose? If I were to choose one, it would feel like I was giving up a chance to succeed and perform, says the multi-event athlete.
“As it comes”
Åskag does not expect to make any hasty decisions about next season.
We’ll take it as it comes. I’ll continue to compete in both, but at the championships we’ll see how I feel and how things look.
Next year, in addition to the World Championships in Beijing in September, the European Indoor Championships will take place in Valencia in March.
I’m really happy with this season, but not 100 per cent happy either. You want to win medals; that’s why you train every day. Now it’s just about recharging and getting even better.
Born: December 18, 2002.
Club: Råby-Rekarne FIF.
Lives: Stockholm.
Outdoor personal bests: 6.89 metres in the long jump and 14.27 metres in the triple jump.
Top championship finishes: Fifth in the triple jump at the 2025 World Indoor Championships; seventh in the long jump at the 2026 European Championships.
