David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig skipped the European Championship 2024 to recover after the discharge in the Olympic Games in Paris the previous summer.
Now the Swedish superstars are favorites for their third European Championship gold. They won both in 2022 and 2023.
Next generation
Behind them, the next generation is storming forward. Jacob Hölting Nilsson, 20, and Elmer Andersson, 19, who became U22 champions in 2024, showed with their second place in the Elite tournament in Gstaad that they belong in the world top.
In Düsseldorf, they will participate in their first senior European Championship.
We are always hungry for more. Of course, you can think that you want to take gold and we think that too. But it's a very tough tournament and we can't count on anything, says Elmer Andersson.
Missed graduation
What have you sacrificed for your successes?
We have had to sacrifice some time with friends and family. I missed my graduation when we played in Malmö, those are the kinds of sacrifices you make. For the past year, I have been living out of a suitcase. But we're not to be pitied, we get to travel around and play beach volleyball.
How do you view the competition with David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig?
We met once in Poland, of course, you become competitors sometimes. If we're in an elimination match, it's us or them, then I choose myself and Jacob, of course. But after the match, we're not competitors, we can coexist well, I see them as teammates.
The European Championship will be played from July 30 to August 3 in Düsseldorf, Germany.
This is how the group stage will be decided: David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig belong to group B together with Rémi Bassereau and Calvin Ayé from France, Alexander Brouwer and Steven van de Velde from the Netherlands, and Samuele Cottafava and Alex Ranghieri from Italy. Åhman and Hellvig, who are the best seeded, will start against the Italian team, which is the lowest seeded. If they win, they will face the winners of the match between the French and the Dutch teams. If they lose, they will face the losers. The team that wins both matches will go directly to the round of 16, while the two teams that only win one match will have to play for a spot in the round of 16 in an additional qualifying round. Jacob Hölting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson belong to group G together with Michal Bryl and Bartosz Losiak from Poland, Lukas Pfretzschner and Sven Winter from Germany, and Eylon Elazar and Kevin Cuzmiciov from Israel. The Swedes, who are second-seeded, will start against the third-seeded German team.
After the round of 16, the playoffs will continue with the quarterfinals, semifinals, and final.
