Earlier this year, Luxembourg-born sprinter Nora Lindahl switched from Sweden to Finland. In a Finnish summer programme on Yle, Lindahl said that she did not feel Sweden believed in her, and that she had not received the support she had requested.
We selected Nora for the Olympic offensive, which is a gateway to our top development program. Then we selected Nora for the future criterion, which shows that we assessed that she has very high capacity, says SOK's sports director Fredrik Joulamo to Aftonbladet .
Financial assistance
The basic question that we feel we received from Nora was about how we could financially help her with an investment in Sweden or Luxembourg. The association's financial conditions are limited, says David Fridell to the evening newspaper.
On Monday, it was announced that hurdler David Thid would be switching national teams from Sweden to Thailand.
The big reason is SOK. You can meet the Olympic qualification limit but not be selected, they have their top 12 criteria, Thid tells SVT .
Extreme results are required for you to receive any support.
“Needs focus”
The SOK's top 12 criterion was up for discussion at the annual meeting in March, but all special Olympic sports federations except athletics voted to retain the criterion.
Fridell believes that Swedish sports should take athletes who leave seriously.
It is not a good situation if Swedish athletes feel they need to seek out other environments to develop and have greater opportunities. We need to continue to focus on the conditions of elite athletes in general, he tells DN.
+ Top 12 criterion: The athlete must have achieved results and be considered capable of competing for at least twelfth place in the Olympics. The basic criterion must be achieved in the highest international competition.
+ The future criterion: SOK can remove active athletes who do not meet the basic criterion, but who are considered to have the potential to compete at the top level in future Olympics.
+ Exemption criteria: In special cases, exceptions can be made to the basic criteria. A prerequisite for a possible exception is that the athlete has passed the international qualification or quota criteria. Decisions on any exceptions are made by the SOK Board or a group appointed by the Board.
Source: Swedish Olympic Committee (SOK).
