Swedish super star Sarah Sjostrom was honored by Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf at the royal palace in Stockholm earlier this week for her accomplishments at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in which she won three medals: a gold, a silver, and a bronze.
At the 2016 Rio Olympic Games Sjostrom won the 100 butterfly in world record time. Sjostrom also took silver to American Katie Ledecky in the 200 freestyle and then picked up the bronze medal in the 100 freestyle behind Team USA’s Simone Manuel and Canada’s Penny Oleksiak, who tied for gold in Olympic record time.
Sjostrom has received a lot of attention and praise in Sweden since the Olympics concluded in August. In January Sjostrom was named Swedish Sportswoman of the Year for the 2nd-consecutive year. Sjostrom was given the same award in early 2016 following her phenomenal performance at the 2015 FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia, in which she broke Dana Vollmer’s 2012 world record in the 100 fly semis and then broke the record again to win the gold the following evening. Sarah Sjostrom also destroyed the world record in the 50 LCM butterfly in 2015, which had previously been held by fellow Swede Therese Alshammar, set during the super-suit 2009 FINA World Championships in Rome where Sjostrom broke the world record in the 100 fly for the first time at only 15-years-old.
Jenny Rissveds, Sweden’s Olympic gold medalist in women’s cross country cycling, was also honored by the king.
Sjostrom being greeted by King Carl XVI Gustaf at the Kungliga Slottet, Stockholm’s royal palace.
Jenny Rissveds (left) and Sjostrom (right) reaping even more gold in Stockholm.
Snow White and Dwarfs 🙂