Published 2026-01-28 17.33
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A Swedish medal hope misses the Olympics.
Filip Gravenfors, 21, has broken his collarbone.
– It’s a nightmare come true, he says.
The Swedish piste skater was third in the overall World Cup last season and was thought of as a big Swedish medal hope at the Olympics.
In total, he has taken 13 podium places in the World Cup but is now forced to throw in the towel before what would have been his first Olympics.
The 21-year-old broke his collarbone after injuring himself during an Olympic preparatory training camp in Ruka, Finland.
– It was the first day, the first training but the last ride, as usual, he says.
He landed with a bit of forward weight and hit his shoulder in a hump. He immediately felt that something had crashed. He is not worried about the injury itself, but the timing is the problem.
– I immediately feel that this is not good. From the moment I get down to the bottom of the hill, I know it’s done.
It happened two days ago and he finds it hard to put his feelings into words.
– It feels damn strange, I can say. Very strange. It’s a bit like that. That you have thought about the idea that if you hurt yourself, what happens then? You’ve had teammates who have crashed and missed the place and then you think, damn it, that’s the worst thing there is and it can’t happen to you alone.
To be operated
For Gravenfors, surgery awaits instead of the Olympics. He hopes to be operated on next week and he hopes to go to Italy and cheer on his national team colleagues.
– I want to experience the Olympics even though it’s on the sidelines.
What kind of expectations did you have for the Olympics?
– It is clear that they would have liked to go there and achieve top results. But at a moment like this, I just wish I could have crashed there instead. You want to experience the Olympics as a skater and get the chance to see how far you could have gone. That such a dream that you’ve had for so long, that you can’t even try, hurts a lot. It is something that needs to be processed.
Supported by family and girlfriend
How do you get through it?
– I have great people around me. My girlfriend Ida has supported me a lot, the family and then I have a history of working a lot with mental training.
He continues:
– I am not a person who will delve too much into all this, which is thanks to the fact that I have spent so many hours trying to train my brain in the right direction. It is precisely moments like this where you can come back stronger.
He now hopes to experience the Olympic dream in the French Alps in four years.
– It is simply meant that I make the top result there instead.
