The daughter was born with Down syndrome and a heart defect
Published 2024-02-18 19.04
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GIRONA. She is one of the world’s best cyclists.
But life took a turn when the daughter was born with both Down syndrome and a heart defect.
– You gain an understanding of how different we all are, says Emma Johansson.
Emma Johansson40, has been asked to be in the “Master of Masters” before, but it never fit the time.
– I have been pregnant, or waited for heart surgery. But when they contacted me this year, I felt “Yes” because this year it fits really, really well, she says.
The vision was to train a lot before, but with three small children at home, there was not enough time.
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full screenEmma Johansson Photo: Andreas BardellFACTS
Emma Johansson
At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Emma Johansson took silver in the line race – the country’s first medal in cycling since the 1988 Summer Olympics. She also won the French five-day race Trophée d’Or Féminin and at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games she took another silver in the line run.
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The tough time after the daughter’s birth
In 2020, Emma had her second child, My. But after the birth, a doctor was called there who found that the newborn daughter has Down’s syndrome.
– I had zero knowledge of Down syndrome. I was scared and very sad. I felt an emptiness. What does this mean? Is this happening to us?, Emma told Aftonbladet then.
Then came the next doctor’s report, My had a big hole in her heart – something that turned her whole life upside down.
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full screen Photo: Private
Understanding how different we all are
But today, four years later, My is doing “very well”.
– She doesn’t notice her heart defect, we go for annual check-ups and she has a bigger leak in one valve than they might have wanted, but it’s nothing that affects her, says Emma.
She says that her daughter’s Down syndrome “offers a lot of challenges” and describes My as “very active, quite spontaneous, strong and without a filter”.
How has life changed?
– You become quite humble about life, in general, when life takes a turn that you were not prepared for. I never thought we would become that family with a child who has Down’s syndrome… But now we are and in the beginning it was quite tough in many ways, but I notice that I think a little differently now. I think you get an understanding of how different we all are, with or without a diagnosis.
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full screenEmma Johansson Photo: Peter Wixtröm
Plus on life
The love life
– He maybe travels a bit too much, but at the same time I also think that it means that we can manage to lie up there because then you realize how good you are and that you miss each other. It is positive.
How long have you been a couple?
– We met in 2005, or 2006. So long!
How do you make love last so long?
– Yes, say it! I think we went on so many different trips. First as newly in love, then he became my coach and then it was a bit of a balancing act to have my boyfriend as my coach and he was my whole career. Take the step further, we got married during the career and bought a house and then topped off with three kids. That is probably the biggest challenge right now. That you have three children that take up so much time, in the past you had all the time for each other, so maybe that’s what we need to work on now.
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full screenEmma Johansson and Martin Vestby. Photo: Peter Wixtröm
The health
– I think I have a pretty good balance, I felt great when I was a top athlete, but considering that I have three toddlers under the age of five, I feel pretty good.
The career
– I also got the most out of my career by driving overtime for a few years. I thought I’d stop after London, maybe run another year – but I kept going all the way to Rio and had a good finish. It didn’t go gold but it was as good as it could be.
The economy
– We have so we can manage! We don’t live in a tent, nor do we live in a castle. I would have loved to have a summer place like this, so I can say minus if you think like that. But we are fine. We live like a good family.
Have you made any big purchases lately?
– I bought an electric bike! You need that. I always thought I’d try to stay fit enough to ride up the damn hill we have up to our house, but I realized that with three kids the hill just got longer and longer and longer, so it was a super investment!
The future plans
– What are future plans? I have to put one there because right now I don’t have anything, I really live in the present and I’m a bit stuck with the children. They are one, three and five years old and there is not much time for anything else.
– So for me it’s just about making things work.
