Kallur and Holm head up an impressive Swedish team – European Athletics (EAA) – NEWS

A small but impressive team of twelve top quality Swedish athletes, headed up by recent 60m Hurdles World Indoor record holder Susanna Kallur and defending Olympic High Jump Champion Stefan Holm, are set to represent their athletics mad nation in Beijing.

Swedish women's Discus record holder Anna Therése Söderberg will be the first Finnish athlete to compete tonight as she lines up for the women's qualification rounds at 19:55 CET.

Multi-award winning Multi-eventer Carolina Kluft will no doubt be watching from the wings as the Heptathlon gets into full swing today.  The 25-year-old, who has won every major championship she has competed in, has taken the brave decision not to defend her Olympic Heptathlon title, but to face a new challenge in the Long and Triple Jump events.

Steeplechaser Mustafa Mohamed also faces a tough challenge to the podium, having finished just outside of the medals in Osaka last year, the 29-year-old knows he needs to pull out the performance of his life to challenge the Kenyan stronghold on this event.

Linus Thörnblad faces competition from within his own team, as defending High Jump Champion Stefan Holm appears to have found his form just in time for Beijing.  The two top quality jumpers are well matched and always provide an entertaining challenge, although Holm has confirmed that this will be his last Olympic outing and is keen to produce something really quite special to mark his outstanding jumps career.  

Sprint hurdler Susanna Kallur had a spectacular start to her indoor season making her a much talked about favourite for Olympic gold, but a hamstring injury and residual pain from an old stress fracture in her lower leg saw her forced to withdraw from the World Indoor Championships and produce mixed results throughout the summer season.

Despite these setbacks Kallur remains positive and with her hamstring now healed and the leg pain under control, the determined Swede is convinced she can still create a stir in Beijing.

European Athletics (EAA) – NEWS