At the Olympic Games 2016, Sarah Sjöström created history by becoming the first Swedish woman to win an Olympic gold medal in swimming when she set a new world record in the 100 m butterfly, with a time of 55.48 seconds. She is the only female swimmer to win five individual medals at a single FINA World Aquatics Championships and as of 2019, she has won a total of 16 individual medals at long course World Championships, more than any other female swimmer in history.
This year at Tokyo Olympics she zoomed in to bag the Silver Medal in the 50 m freestyle event. Congratulations!
It has been an extremely tough year for Sjostrom, as she had an elbow injury just months before the games. She wasn’t expected to be at her best, and she wasn’t — though in fairness her best is world-record pace kind of swims and that isn’t a fair standard to hold against anyone.
Women Fitness recently featured the Swedish Star, Sarah Sjöström’s interview on Women Fitness. In one of the questions asked according to what are the five tips for an aspiring Olympian to cope with the pressure to perform their best. This is what she had to say:
Sarah Sjöström’s Five tips for an aspiring Olympian to cope with the pressure to perform their best.
- Get mentally prepared that you gonna be very nervous. Might even be a little bit uncomfortable feeling. (but at the same time overwhelming)
- But remember that you can still do an amazing performance with those feelings. Don’t panic if you feel very nervous.
- Stick to your routine, but remember
- The Olympic village is huge so you might need to do more walking then you are used to in your everyday life.
- Beds in the Olympic village are very uncomfortable. But 1 week of bad sleep is not gonna affect your performance if your sleep has been good mounts/years before that 😉
She has been the first Swedish woman to win an Olympic gold medal in swimming. Five factors that have been instrumental in her victory at the Olympic Games have been: Hard work, dedication, talent, the ability to switch on and off, and mental preparation.
Check out her full interview at https://www.womenfitness.net/sarah-sjostrom/