A World Class Sprinter

When I was a teenager there was a group of very successful Swedish athletes that where known as the 56ers. Because they were all born in 1956. This is one of them, Linda Haglund. You will know a few of the others. The ones that stands out a bit are Björn Borg and Ingemar Stenmark. There was also a wrestler, Frank Andersson, and another alpine skier, Stig Strand. Linda was a very good sprinter. She has one gold medal, and four silver medals from different European Championships. In the Moscow Olympics in 1980 she finished fourth in the 100m final. The best ever result by a Swedish sprinter. Her personal record in the 100m is 11.16, and that is still the Swedish record thirty years later! Today Linda works as a teacher in Haninge. She teaches English, Biology and of course Gymnastics. Her philosophy in life and as a teacher is to always be positive and look towards the future and see all the possibilities that lay ahead. She is also a published author, and has worked as head track coach for Santa Monica College. I met her a couple of days ago. We were both on our bikes and luckily for me the former world class sprinter had time for a chat and a few photos. She also told me that once in a while the 56ers meet and boy what stories they must be able to tell!