Despite a sore throat, Axelina Johansson claimed bronze in shot put at the indoor world championships in Toruń with a throw of 19.75 metres, a new Swedish record. It marks the first Swedish medal in shot put at a world championships. Johansson improved her own record by three centimetres.
Axelina Johansson, 25, from Hässelby, woke up with a sore throat on competition day but delivered her career-best throw at the indoor athletics world championships in Toruń, Poland. Her second-round effort of 19.75 metres secured bronze, just three centimetres shy of silver medallist Sarah Mitton of Canada (19.78). Gold went to Chase Jackson of the USA with 20.14 metres. The throw set a new Swedish indoor record, improving Johansson's own mark of 19.72 metres from December in the USA. 'It felt so good!', she exclaimed afterwards. This is the first world championships medal for a Swede in shot put ever and the first for a Swedish thrower at a global championship since Ruth Svedberg won Olympic discus bronze in 1928. Johansson had been dealing with a back injury over Christmas and felt out of form earlier in the season. Federation captain Kajsa Bergqvist motivated her by noting her own best competition came when ill. 'She said she had her best competition when she was sick. So I felt that I could too', Johansson said. Fellow Swede Fanny Roos finished sixth with 18.96 metres. Johansson had placed eighth at last year's indoor worlds and seventh at the 2022 outdoor Europeans. After the Tokyo worlds, she grew tired of being average and trained intensely, improving her diet and strength. 'After Tokyo I felt so tired of being 'average'. So I've worked super hard', she said.
