Sweden's Olympic effort an underachievement?

Oh no ! Don`t let anyone hear you saying that Sweden has underperformed . You will suddenlt be called a "white hater" .

@Migga will politely remind you that Sweden is small nothern country which is competing with countries which have summer from January to December .

It does not matter that Sweden used to win many gold medals before .

Swedes have no sense of competition and achievements aren't applauded, in fact they are looked down upon. What surprises me the most is that you do see this with the Danes, very strong even.

London in 1948 - 2000 participants

London in 2012 - 10000+ participants

Comparing elk to moose?

http://cornucopia.cornubot.se/2012/08/peak-olympics-2008.html

1948?!?! Ever heard of World War II?! Oh yeah, Sweden fagged out. Well, a lot of people from other countries died which might have something to do with whatever Sweden did at the '48 games. Another piece of pointless, lazy journalism.

Swden has done well compared to the lase olympics. We have also done well compared to norway and finland. We are like a fish competing in d ocean with the sharks. It might be true dat we focuss on unpopular sports. One could see the best of Britain in dis olympics, i pray for dat day in sweden.

At least one Swedish 'gold medal hope', swimmer Therese Alshammar, was NOT as fit as she might have been (I believe she was having treatment while the events were going on). At this level, you need to be able to perform at your peak.

Apart from that, Sweden's miserly medal haul mirrors the disappointment felt by other countries and one reason given is the 'poaching' of top coaches by the more successful countries.

Does it matter? Some on this site reckon Sweden is so wonderful anyway: put it another way - China, has won bucketfuls of medals, but does it mean China is a BETTER place to live than Sweden?

@ Jes

Other countries are catching up, is that so hard to understand? A major reason why Sweden did so well in the past was because of the few countries that participated. Sweden was way ahead, not so anymore. Especially not in the summer olympics where other countries have a better climate to train in. And sure Sweden has underperformed compared to Stockholm 1912 or London 1948 but that`s an unfair comparison. Sure Sweden have probably lost ground but I think other countries have made just as much ground if not more.

Shame there isnt a make up excuses category in the #Olympics, #Sweden would have cleaned up in that event. #Bohoo #CryMeARiver

_{Comment removed by The Local for breach of our terms.}

@ Migga ,

I am glad you are catching up . There is evidence that Sweden has "lost ground " ( your words)

When there is no tennis player to replace Björn borg , Mats Wilander ,Jonas Börkman ; when you dont have anybody to replace Patrik Sjoberg , Stefan Holm ; when you don`t have only one longer jumper instead of the 3 that have retired ; when you still count on injured Susana Kullor to get a gold for Sweden .----- don´t look at the weather for an excuse .

Its is 2012 for Gods sake . Athletes earn very well . When it is winter in Stockholm , it is not the same in South Africa or Australia. This means that a Swedish athlete has a lot of training options . In fact , very few elite sports Swedes live and train in Sweden .

Is it unfair to compare 1948 with 2012 ?

Why should it be ? Comparision is an acceptable scientific principal.

No , Sweden is not going to win 32 golds ; but it surely must aim higher than one bronze or 3 from sports that not many Swedes relate to.

BTW ., The Local is doing what I wondered about the other day , i.e , asking questions instead of publishing articles that give the impression that a bronze medal in wrestling is so wonderful.

Football ladies (? ) were almost on top of the World recently . How come they have suddenly failed to win matches against everybody ?

Handball ladies , failed to win any single match , right ?

Handball is not summer sport is it ?

It always cracks me up when people base a country's well-being on how many medals are won in the Olympics. Is there really any relation other than wealth and size between how many medals won and a countries quality of life? Personally, I do not think so. The reason the US and China have been at the top for the past two Olympics comes down to money and a larger selection of athletes to choose from. Naturally, these athletes will be better. However, this medal count has little bearing on a country's GDP, human rights, etc.

I grew up in the US during the Cold War. The two Olympic leaders were the US and the Soviet Union, again because they had the most athletes to choose from. They could choose the best. I always found it funny that the medal count came to represent which system is better: capitalism or communism? Really? Capitalism vs. Communism could be boiled down into the lowest common denominator which was: which team player could get a puck past the goalie? Intellectual laziness. Well, we know now that Communism could not be saved by some muscular chick in a leotard flinging a ribbon in the air.

You are wrong @texaslass !

India has one of the largest population on earth . Right now , India´s economy is growing faster than most econmies on eath . Look at the list of medals won so far . India is nowhere to be seen .

Forget the cold-war era and take a good look at what is happening right now. Sweden is a "sport loving "society . Sports is part of Swedish culture . The argument , therefore , is not about size ; its about idiology . So thequestion is : has Sweden lived up to what is expected of it ?

On the issue of " sports idiology " I would suggest that Indians , Pakistanes , Sri Lankans , etc , would be asking a lot of hard questions of they did not win medals in the game of cricket . The argument is that lager population numbers would not help China to beat South Africa if cricket was in the olympics.

@ Jes

Do you know who it is who grows up and becomes the elite athletes of tomorrow? It`s the kids. They sure don`t have the means to move abroad to start training. If you want to be an elite athelete today you have to start young. Are young kids supposed to do outside summer sports all year round in nordic conditions? Are kids going to do beach volleyball in december in Umea?

You can`t compare the two, I`m not going to list all the differences that has developed in 64 years but the major part is that new countries have joined.

But let`s stop going around circles and tell me what your point is. Sweden has underpreformed apperently, what`s the reason? What is your point? Is it because Swedes are lazy, stupid, bad, inferior and can`t compete?

So what? Who cares? Who gives a hoot?

And, completely off topic, why the heck do I get an add for "MatureDating.UK" in the middle of this article, with a picture of a woman guaranteed to put me off mature dating in the UK for ever? I thought this website was about Sweden.

How about pausing to celebrate the sacrifice and achievements of current medal winners?

@Migga: The answer for all of your questions is Big YES! They are lazy, stupid, bad, and inferior and can't compete. All they are good at is binge drinking and X. Even the Swede teenagers are these days getting every kind of booze and crack. They are becoming junkies. What the… is the government waiting for? With an interesting stature (for both male and female) of Swedes, it is shame this quality is left only for SEX. I am really too disappointed with the London Olympic achievements. Even some very poor countries did perform remarkably at the event. There should be a U turn on the way the SWEDE Olympic team is getting trained in the future. I am optimist Sweden will correct all the mistakes in the future and become among top 10 medalists in Rio 2016.

A German investigation before the Olympics began, based - if I remember rightly - on scientific data without taking into account sporting achievements, projected that Sweden would take 6 medals. So far it has taken 7 medals so their achievements are not bad at all. If Sweden wants to do better it must invest more in good facilities and competent trainers for the young.

@Henry Pollard: You are in another planet. How come you posted such a comment?! I am sure your brain has long divorced your head. These immigrants are not given all the privileges to get trained as an athlete. Oh! This is funny to talk about. They are even not allowed to integrate. They are living in a deep hole though they called it developed country. Before you gave such comments, I advise you to put on their shoes and walk (not run) a bit. You'll figure out how it is not easy not only to represent a country but also to live as a good naturalized citizen. All the Swede did to this East Africans is just political profit for Sweden to be seen as a welcoming country-while the fact is the opposite. They took in all and treat them as zombies and blame all in general for drug addiction, rape, robbery and other stupid things. Look at UK. They give for e.g. Mohammed Farah of GB a chance and he made them proud on Men's 10,000 meter race. I am hopeful one day a good individual who can think nice like Olle Wastberg will give all these badly treated human beings a chance to compete representing Sweden and making their second home proud.

@lina:

I am most certainly on a different planet from you. I'm on earth and you're on a red one, in a political sense.

Sweden is more welcoming to East-Africans than any nation on earth. From the Somalians I know, the general opinion is that while the UK gives them a bigger welfare payment, life in Sweden is better because the government and the populace will bend over backwards for them, due to their deep fear of being perceived as racist.

And yes, East-Africans in Sweden account for a disproportionate amount of rape and violence when compared with the general population.

To not acknowledge this is to treat the EAs as children who don't carry responsibility for their actions. And so long as lefty types continue this head-in-the-sand mindset, the East Africans will remain the most dysfunctional and indeed dangerous part of Swedish society.

The fact that an athlete competes for his/her country is, in itself, an achievement. Should that achievement result in a medal, all the better, but in any case it is far better to have competed and failed, than never to have competed at all.

Just like the Olympics, the athletes come and go, and the standard changes both for them and the games. To reach that peak of condition at just the right time means balancing the calender against the physique, and it is far from certain that they will coincide. Who knows? Perhaps at the next Olympics there will be more gold medals for Sweden, perhaps not.

No matter what the press says, the journalists are arm-chair types, they don't compete - only with their pencil. It is the lads and lasses on the ground, in the clubs, that do all the work, and the journalists often make mountains out of molehills, hence the number of gold medals a country fails to get, and often they count their chickens before they are hatched. Oh yes - clichés. But so very true. Hype from a pen is often very hard to live up to.

Be thankful for the medals Sweden has achieved, and make the winners proud of their achievement. Don't make excuses for, or detrimental remarks about, those who did not win. They might well succeed next time.

And good luck to them, and to those who won a medal this time.

Another cliché - - - You can't win them all ! ! !

@Henry:

I see you are now trying to use your leftover playing card-STATISTICS?!

You are trying to deceive the general population without considering the confounding factors existing as an immigrant.

I am sure you counting those false rape reports of SOME taking advantage of foreigners. Let me tell you the fact. Most of the crimes including rape are NOT made by these people.

On Somalians....Cummon! Don't try to flatter yourself as if you know what is best for them in Sweden as compared to UK. You said..."Life in Sweden is better than UK". As long as the fact is within the hearts of Somalis, they considered life here as the same as pit hole.

You raised a very interesting issue that Swedes are afraid of perceived as racist.The reason they are afraid is that most are racist INSIDE.

Don't you know that people are afraid of what they are inside!

That is why they give a fake smile.This is not a rocket science to understand.

As long as people like you hanging around in Sweden, these EAs will have tough time to avoid their heads away from the chopping log.

Unlike you, I am an optimist for Sweden as a nation. These EAs will one day become the most FUNCTIONAL and indeed HARMLESS part of Swedish society. And most importantly, you'll regret your words in the future if you don't finish your EARTH YEARS.

@Hisingen:

Thumbs up for your comment.

You are right that it is always better to hope for the best and plan for the worst.

I think henry pollad should shut up and stop @linna from battering sweden further. U got me @ limma on the issue of Farah. If farah was a swede, he would never make it to the olympics. If u go to USA, u see successful former swedes that left sweden out of frustration.

Didn't anyone watch the documentary on athletic injuries on the run-up to the Games?

Swedish tax payers are dammed if they do and dammed if they don't. The Persson administration invested money in sports and over the years, the tax payers covered the costs for countless operations and medical care due to VERY serious injuries due to VERY hard training.

@Lina

You say that Somalians regard their treatment in Sweden as akin to that of being in a 'pit hole'. If that is the case, why is the number of Somalians coming to Sweden increasing year on year?

From an article on this very site last month:

"in Sweden, the number of asylum seekers from Somalia has risen by 58 percent to 2,507, making Somalis the largest group of asylum seekers in Sweden."

A 58% increase in one year certainly suggests that they enjoy what Sweden is offering them.

If Somalis aren't integrating into Sweden, arguably the most left-wing, pro-immigration state in the developed world, then one must point the finger at the Somalis themselves.

In their own land, they have created a country which is completely lawless, dominated by a medieval religion, in which their women are regarded as sub-human breeding tools.

For them to integrate into Swedish society, they have to disown the unpleasant values of their culture and unfortunately, based on most Somalis I've encountered in Sweden, they don't seem wlling to do that.

Are gold medals very important? Since most of the people in Sweden are in good shape :)

@Henry:

It is funny in a way that you like "figures" in your comments.

Yeah,you may think they are enjoying.

Did you ask someone from Somali what his/her expectation was?

They all thought they are warmly accepted when they got their residence permits. When they got here, they'll be misjudged for every rubbish activities in Sweden. Then, they'll become angry. What follows is disappointment in everything.

But, for your question "why the number of Somalians coming to Sweden increasing?"

You are asking the wrong person.

I don't have an answer in figures like you.

I refer this question to the immigration officers.

I am sure you don't know why too? Except making personal opinion!

Personally, they thought Sweden is a safe heaven as compared to Sudan.

For the record, the majority of Somali refugees are living in the neighboring countries (Ethiopia and Kenya)-not Sweden.

Why are you trying to claim everything on Somalians or Ethiopians or Eriterians or Afghans or...?! Why?

What is wrong with you man? Why don't you try to see yourself first!

Let me tell you one thing.

As long as you always try to LAY YOUR FINGER on them, they'll always continue to make MINCED MEAT out of it. This is just human behavior.

Better not to stereotype anyone on anything.

Change is a process not a miracle in one night.

As long as these people are part of the society, you got to have blood to give in.

I am sure you have. But, you don't really know where to put it in.

I can guess that most of the Somalis you encountered were not willing to disown their culture. It is not a surprise for me. Most are not properly educated like the Swedes. The only proper school for them is SFI -Not Karoliniska Institute.

Before you judge them, you should first look on the facts.

These people are not given proper attention like other residents.

They are not given second chances in life.

They are always judged by people around them-like zombies.

For me, I am hopeful they'll change through time as long as they got all the privileges-including education and job opportunities.

But, to change the existing mentality takes time more than you think.

FYI, I am not an activist. I am just a normal person with a normal thoughts. Additionally, I am not an alien but from earth too :-)

Sweden is doing just fine in the Olympics. In international sporting events size matters, so a country of just 9 million people to have already 7 medals (and almost certainly at least 8 thanks to the men's handball team) is fantastic.

Compare this to the current medal leader, the USA, who has 81 medals but a population of 314 million people. That equates to one medal per every 3.8 million Americans, whereas Sweden has won a medal for every 1.2 million Swedes.

It has nothing to do with Swedish athletes not being good enough at summer sports: it is only about the dramatically larger populations of the top medal winning countries. Besides, at least Sweden has more so far then Norway (3) and Finland (just 1).

HEJA SVERIGE!!!

It really comes down to money, investment in the programs that produce world class athletes. Look at GB, they did not do well in the last Olympics and it was apparently important enough for them to do something about it, i.e. invest the money in revamping their system. It's that simple, if a society defines itself by their successes in sports on the world stage, then they will invest the money it takes to excel on that stage. This is exactly why the U.S. and the Soviet Union produced the best athletes during to cold war, it wasn't about the competition, it was about convincing the world about who was the better society.

Yes, it's also personal drive, etc. etc. However, to be on the world stage today, you must have the top of the line tools to practice. This includes being able to travel to the parts of the world and train with the best of the best in your field and hire the best coaches. All of this takes MONEY!!

haha! HenryPollard's comment #6 cracked me up. So it seems like Sweden makes the worst of the Somalis and East Africans vis-a-vis the UK, citing Mo Farah's success. So that says a lot about Sweden then. It's a country that fails to get the best of the people. Having stuck around here and seeing the clandestine racism and discrimination it's no surprise the best you can get out of Somalis is in police chases.

Sweden really isn't doing that badly:

http://simon.forsyth.net/olympics.html

Compare results to number of athletes.

Denmark sent 115 with 2 gold, Sweden 139 with 1 gold. China sent 384 yet have 36 gold medals (near 10% gold medal hit rate). Other underperformers are Canada and Australia.

practice more....

Sweden just needs to go after 'Healthy and sport minded' immigrants, and maybe focus on Jamaician immigrants for track sports.

Id rather each government stopped handing over huge amounts of money to olympic committees and sports academy's and spent the money on schools and science instead. big waste of tax payer money. In australia for example its in the vicinity of $100 mill ( 710 mill kr ) per year. needless to say the managers and execs running the programs do very well.

wow that alcoholic brain dead moron kicked a ball - lets all wet our pants and jump for joy and spend big bucks we should be spending on our childrens futures to buy a shirt with their name it. never mind the person in question earns $20 mill a year and cant string a coherent sentence together..

society has its priorities wrong.

@Migga ,

in response to your question , my point is that the sports media in Sweden should start asking the questions I have mentioned instead of jumping up and down because a wrestler has won bronze .

I am saying that if Sweden could produce international sports stars in the past , it can do the same today and tomorrow. Unfortunately , the results from UK indicate that there is a gap that needs to be filled . Where is the plan to do that ?

Some idiot may say that investing in sports is a waste of national resources . But reality is that sports and art have become a very profitable business .

I am sure I don`t need to explain why that is.

Medal list as of today ... Sweden's ranked down in 31st position.

With countries smaller and less money invested in national sports and education in front of them.

1 CHN 77

2 USA 81

3 GBR 48

4 KOR 25

5 RUS 53

6 GER 34

7 FRA 28

8 ITA 17

9 HUN 14

10 AUS 27

11 KAZ 8

12 NED 15

13 JPN 31

14 IRI 8

15 PRK 5

16 BLR 10

17 CUB 7

18 NZL 10

19 UKR 10

20 RSA 5

21 ESP 9

22 ROU 9

23 DEN 9

24 JAM 6

25 BRA 10

26 POL 9

27 CRO 4

28 SUI 3

29 ETH 4

30 CAN 14

31 SWE (selected) 7

@ Jes

When someone wins a medal I don`t think it`s time for the media to start question why it wasn`t of a higher value. That`s the time for congratulations. Afterwards one should do an evaluation and decide if it`s within reason to put more resources or time in.

You still haven`t told me what you think is the reason behind the gap.

@Migga ,

The gap is there as figures and names prove .

Its you who remarked that other countries are catching up while Sweden is loosing ground .

The reason ?

This is where I started . I told you that Sweden is more interested in reaping than it is in sowing new seeds . Its is that state of "reaping mind" that you see the media tfixen on Zlatan instead of wondering why the Swedish national football wins one match after it has been eliminated .

My opinion is that all the countries that are not collecting gold medals have a "sowing plan" in place . Look at USA for example . most the elite athletes we see winning have gone through college and University sports clubs . in USA , almost every major high school college or university has a fund that is only dedicated for sports training . China , Japan South Korea , Russia and ( now ) UK have adapted the same approach .

What about Sweden ?

Lund , Uppsalla , Orebro , Umea , Stockholm universities do not even have ice-hockey teams, a typical cold land sport . Any student who wants to get professional training as an ice-hockey player must find a private club outside the university to do that .

Even in poor Kenya does better than rich and well organised Sweden!. Colleges in remote areas try to help their young talented runners , instead of waiting for them to win and the sing the national athem

@ Jes

You talk in circles and haven`t finished your startingpoint. You aren`t saying anything. Why does Sweden have a "reaping mind"? Why doesn`t Sweden have a "sowing plan" in place? Why doesn`t Sweden have uni sport clubs?

Why do you think it is so?

I don't think Sweden should be aspiring towards top 10 in the Olympic medal table. The countries in the top 10 have wasted enormous amounts of money on a select handful of elite athletes.

The UK for instance, won only 1 gold a decade ago. At that time they were spending around £40 million on elite-athletes.Now, they spend close to a quarter-billion pounds annually on this handful of sportsman.

I'd much rather spend hundreds of millions on vital services that improve a nation rather than an elite few of its citizens.

Sweden is better off with it's fit and outdoorsy population than the UK is with is masses of fat slobs sitting watching the Olympics on TV while killing themselves with copious amounts of KFC.

Of course it is an underachivement its a truly dreadful performance for a Country of Swedens size and relative wealth.

Yes money has something to do with it of course.

In terms of poulation

GB Population 62 Million 24 Golds

Swe Population 9 Million 1 Gold.

USA only has 9 more Golds than GB but population nearly 4 time larger.

China 15 more and population 30 or something times.

Jamaca 6 Golds and population of less than a Million I think and very little money.

GB has invested havily in both rowing and cycling and is now arguably the leader at World level in these sports by a long way, but it has not invested in other areas where they have also scored Golds. Gymnastics and Athletics etc. As a bad example look at how crap GB football team is.

I think some of it is to do with leadership/Coaching and the competitors being determined to win.

I think its time to stop making excuses say what it is"crap" acknoweldge the problem and do something about it. Not make excuses as is generally the case in Sweden.

Look at the Austalians they are furious about only winning 6 Golds population of 24 million. They will come back next time and get more even if it is only to spite GB.

@ steve_38

What should Sweden do?

@Steve

Why call it 'excuses' when the correlation is clear. Those who excel at the Olympic games are those who throw the most cash at it.

The Soviet Union used to throw a large chunk of it's GDP towards winning bucketloads of Olympic Golds. Look how well that turned out in the long run.....

For a small country what are you complaining about?

Look at Canada. Almost 4 times the size of Sweeden and just a few more medals.

@Jes Why would Sweden bother having hockey, at universities? The local sports clubs do an outstanding job of training young athletes to excel and become top notch professionals. The proof?: Sweden now has passed Russia as the country with the 3rd most players in the National Hockey League! Only Canada & USA have more. I believe Sweden had 62 NHL players last season compared to just 50 from Russia (and about 30 from hockey mad Finland). Swedes also won 3 of the top NHL awards last year (best goalie, best defenseman, & rookie of the year).

College sports are almost exclusively an American thing. No need for Sweden to change it's ways. If it ain't broke, don't fix it! :)

Most of the UK funding for Olympic Athletes comes from the national lottery, with the rest of the money coming from the government, the government controbution only comes to about 80 pence for every man, woman and child in the UK.

The sports where the UK has won medals the vast majority of its medals at the last 2 Olympic Games (Cycling/Rowing&Sailing) also happen to be the best run.

The more the succesful a sport is the better the funding the sport gets from the national lottery

@Migga ,

why Sweden does not have a "sowing plan" like other developed countries is the question that the sports media should be asking . Thats my point.

Please read my first post again

@ Spuds MacKenzie ,

if you think that "its not broken" that is your opinion.

My own opinion , based on names and figures , is that "it is broken". Even The Local is not so sure that it is "not broken"

Sweden is doing okey in icehocky ?

College sport is an American thing that Sweden does not have to adapt ?

Why then should 62 Swedish icehocky players play in USA and not in Sweden?

Any way , the last time I checked , Sweden was knocked out early in a tournament that Sweden hosted this year. I am not sure when Sweden last won a Gold medal in winter olympics.

@Jes

It`s apperent that you won`t be giving me an answer even though you must have some ideas about why Sweden isn`t doing what they should according to you. Go on tell me the reason why Sweden isn`t doing what you want. Why isn`t the swedish media asking the questions?

Sweden won five gold medals last winter olympic in Vancouver 2010.

Oh dear !

I thought it was clear what my suggestion is .

Okey , here it is : Sweden should do what USA , China , Jamaica , Kenya and other countries are doing i.e . make sports one of the subjects in schools beginning from high school all the way to university levels.

I have already mentioned that most of the elite sports men and women in China , USA , Russia etc are products of high school , college and university sports systems .

in Jamaica , for example , focus was on Cricket ( a bye product of british colonialism )

Because of that , Jamaican colleges and universities produced elite cricketers , some of whom immigrated to UK . It was from the same Jamaican schools that former Canadian sprinters originated. You probably know that the fathers of Jesicca Enis , Allyson Felix , and Sanya Richards were all sportsmen who studied in Jamaican schools . Enis , Felx ,and Sanya have all won Gold medals for GB and USA.

Jamaica has quickly learned that there is money and fame in running . That is where they put their money .

Sweden won five gold medals in Vancounver 2010 .

May I ask how many gold medals the other countries won ?

I happen to know that winter games have various categories of competations .

Can you tell me why Sweden does not have first class competors in most of the categories ?

Who , for example , has won a medal for Sweden in figure-scating category in the last 20 winter olympics ?

@Jes To answer your question: Sweden last won the Olympic gold medal in hockey in 2006....just two Winter Olympics ago!

And you must've been hiding under a rock this past January or else you'd have noticed that Sweden won the Junior World Championship in hockey (under age 20). That U20 tournament is considered by most hockey experts (which you are clearly not one of) THE most important tourney in the world since it's the tourney at which players are signed to NHL contracts. And yes: over half of Sweden's U20 World Championship team from 2012 has been signed to multi-million dollar contracts already.

Please stop posting your uninformed non-sense about Swedish sports! You clearly have no clue.

@ Jes

Can you read or are you misunderstanding me on purpose?

I`m not asking what Sweden should do, I`m asking why you think Sweden isn`t doing those things.

@becksoz1 (#31)

instead of comparing the results to number of athletes.the countries have sent to the games, compare the number of medals to the population. I think this is what one of the other contributors alluded to.

Sweden is a country with a population of about 8 million, GB has nearly 60 million and the US and China, the two biggest economies have massive numbers (I don't know the exact figures). India, with its growing economy, will start to rise, I am sure, but for the time being, the two big nations are winning the medals. GB is doing well because it's their home Olympics and hey are surprising a lot of us Brits by not freezing in front of the crowd.

The Olympics is becoming like the World Cup and the Champions League in that the 'big nations' and the 'big clubs' will always win the trophies. Spain might be in need of a few Euros but the money apparently spent on their football teams is astronomical; there is money in the country somewhere.

What that means as far as Sweden and its Olympic haul of medals, I don't know but, after Team BG, I am supporting you.

GOOD LUCK

@Migga , don`t worry if I can read or not .

Lets stay with the topic for now .

Why isn`t Sweden doing these things ?

That question has been aswered by many people who are more qualified thanyou and me . One expert said that Sweden is stuck in the old mentality that it is "good at everything" and for that reason , little time is spent in looking outside of Sweden to see what other people are good or better at. This comment come after Sweden nearly come last in EU melody festival in 2009. The expert said that it is enough to listned to the comments before a tournament or a competetive function Swedish media tends to predict that Sweden is going to perform wonders , which does not happen most times as we recently was in EU football championships.

Before that , another expert (in Economics ( had said that Sweden will find it difficult to find a comfortable place in EU economics unless it ( Sverige ) drops its infexiable attitude . This was a discussion about why Sweden was reluctant to change its monopolistic policy . Back then , only Apotek and Systemsbolaget were licenced to sell medicines and strong booze . It took time for Sweden to get rid of this ancient policy . Today in Sweden, one can choose their pharamcy some of which are open up to 10 at night .

The same can be said about sports policy . Some one must scream and demand for a change before these things can occur. Policy makers seem to understand that change isnecessary . But they all belong to same state of mind : Sweden knows best .

It does not , I say !

You could find that The Minister Of Health still believes that his /her dentish must be only someone trained in Korolinska Institutet even if he/she studied and lived abroad and was exposed to a bigger and sometimes a better world.

I think its really funny when swedes doesn't live up to their own myth, and start downplaying the achievements of anyone else. Talk about looser mentality!

@ Jes

You are right about someone else more qualified that has given a better answer, yours was hard to follow to say the least.

Wrong again !

My original position was not to offer an answer : rather , it was about responding to the question that was raised by The Local .

Recall that , ( under another headline ) I had wondered why it so great to get a bronze medal .

I wrote enough ( so I thought ) to make any reasonable reader arrive at some conclusions , oneof which being that Sweden is loosing more ground than it should . I pointed out that one of the reasons is that there is no system to produce new field stars when the older ones become TV experts .

BTW , I have just heard the choach of USA`s women football team that won Gold , who happens to be a Swede , saying that Sweden does not invest well in sports . This woman ( or is she a guy) is saying the same things I have been telling you all week .

You will note that she does not metion that cold weather is why Sweden is loosing out.

May I remind you all of Baron Pierre de Coubertin words "L'important est de participer" (the main thing is to participate"

Calm down everyone, this is just another case of jantelagen, look it up: http://interestingclouds.wordpress.com/2008/02/07/jantelagen-its-a-scandinavian-thing/. Happy Mandag!

Sweden got the amount of medals it deserved. So what if they can't compete on the big sporting stage anymore. t doesn't seem to bother hardly any Swedes anyway. We could always award Sweden medals for political correctness. that they would win hands down.

Who gives a sh** how many trinkets the Sweds collected at the IOC games.

Where would you prefer sports funding to be directed?

a) to a minoroty of athletic elite, or

b) community facilities ( as is the current situation)

Look around Sweden. Most people are not over weight with teeth falling out.

Most are out and about doing some activity out doors maintaining a healthy life style. (smoking excluded)

What Sweden saves in buying gold medals it saves ten fold in public health.