article by Nicola Pucci
“I would never stop swimming…“, I don’t know if these are words he has ever uttered, but undoubtedly Therese Alshammar must have thought about them throughout her eternal, almost infinite career.
Swede from Solna, where he was born on 26 August 1977, Alshammar is the daughter of artgiven that his mother Britt-Marie Smedh placed seventh in the 100m breaststroke final at the 1972 Munich Games, and if she is a specialist in short distances, capable of expressing herself both in freestyle and in backstroke and butterfly, has the enviable record, in a high-level career lasting over 20 years, of being the only swimmer to have participated in six editions of the Olympic Games, from Atlanta 1996 to Rio de Janeiro 2016.
Con 21 European medals – of which 10 gold, 7 silver and 4 bronze – in its palmares, Alshammar the fact that the 50 meter distance is included only in freestyle in the Olympic program is discounted, as she can express herself successfully above all in butterfly and, in fact, despite the 6 appearances at the Games, the Swede managed to medal only in Sydney 2000, where she took silver in both the 50 (24″32 to 24″51) and the 100sl (53″83 to 54″33), in both cases behind the Dutch Inge de Bruijn, as well as the bronze as a member of the 4x100sl relayand then managed to win the 50 freestyle final also in Athens 2004 (fourth in 24″93, just 0″02 hundredths from the bronze of the Australian Lisbeth Lenton) and London 2012, where she came sixth, at the age of 35, in 24″. 61.
The collection of medals at the World Championships is different, and more substantial for Alshammar, as the Swede can also compete in the 50m butterfly, therefore climbing onto the podium starting from the Fukuoka 2001 world championship (silver in both stylesalways behind the already same de Bruijn), and then winning bronze in the 50m butterfly, after finishing fourth in the 50m freestyle, in Montreal 2005 (beaten by Danni Miatke and compatriot Anna-Karin Kammerling) and therefore finally get the long-awaited gold medal in the 50m butterfly at the 2007 Melbourne World Championships with a time of 25″91, combined with second place in the 50m butterfly in 24″62 behind the Australian champion Lisbeth Lenton.
Still in the final on both distances at Rome 2009 world championshipthe Swedish one (which in the semi-final he set the new world record in 25.07 who will resist until compatriot Sarah Sjostrom’s 24″43 in 2014) stops on the edge of the podium for just one hundredth in the 50 butterfly, mocked by the Norwegian Ingvild Snildal, confirming the silver in Melbourne in the 50sl when the German Britta Steffen beat herspecialty in which vice versa he established himself two years later, at the 2011 World Championships in Shanghaipreceding the Dutch Ranomi Kromowidjodjo in 24″14, and in which just 0″05 cents prevent her (25″71 to 25″76) from doing an encore in the 50 butterflypreceded by the other Dutchwoman, Inge Dekker.
And seeing that at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympicsalthough 39 years old, decides to take part in his last major international event, the Olympic Federation opts for her as Sweden’s flag bearer in the opening ceremony of the Games. An honor reserved only for queens…
2024-04-17 08:24:00
#THERESE #ALSHAMMAR #LETERNA #REGINA #PISCINA #SportHistoria
