First, the national team captain Jocke Hammar finished. Now the veteran Niklas Mattsson is also leaving the national snowboard team.
Last winter, the 30-year-old made the third Olympics of his career. It was sortie in the qualifiers both in slopestyle (tricks on the railings and jumps) and in big air (tricks in a big jump). But there are already two World Cup silvers and four podium places in the World Cup, of which two victories, in the prize cabinet.
Together with the star Sven Thorgren, Mattsson has been the face of Swedish snowboarding since the national team’s operations started in 2010.
– It has been twelve years but it feels like we started yesterday, he says in a press release.
– I will certainly miss the friendship and cohesion in the group, the national team has been my extra family in some way. But with that life you have to compromise a lot and you lose a lot of time at home with loved ones. Now I have the time to be able to plan life exactly as I want.
– Niklas Mattsson has been involved since the national team activities in snowboarding started in 2010.
Photo: Joel Marklund / Bildbyrån
He leaves competition arenas but will continue with the sport in various film projects.
– It is sad in a way, but in recent years I have felt that the joy of competing is no longer really there. Somewhere you have to break the pattern and stop lying to yourself. Now I’m going to go out and snowboard in a different way.
Calle Sköld is the new national team captain for the snowboard national team. Next season includes a World Cup in Georgia.
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