Handball star Johan Sjöstrand’s revelation about the future: “I’m putting out a personal ad”
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chevron-leftpreviouschevron-rightnextJohan Sjöstrand quits handball and moves home to Sweden.
1 / 3Photo: Thomas Blomqvist / Tr Bild
Johan Sjöstrand, 37, has soon made his mark in handball.
The Olympic hero retires for the summer – and moves home.
He and his partner have bought a horse farm in Värmland.
– When we heard that the farm was for sale, we jumped at the chance. We are very pleased, he says.
- Handball star Johan Sjöstrand, with 96 international matches and an Olympic silver on his track record, reveals that due to his knee problems this summer, he is ending his career in the summer and moving to Värmland, where he and his partner have bought a horse farm.
- Sjöstrand, who has always had a burning interest in trotting, is open to all job offers in trotting after finishing his handball career.
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Handball goalkeeper Johan Sjöstrand has 96 international matches and an Olympic silver medal in London 2012 on his track record.
In addition to handball, the 37-year-old has a burning interest in trotting.
Recently, he and his partner purchased a horse farm outside Kil.
Soon the moving load will go.
– The farm is located by a lake, just a few kilometers from Lökene, where Björn Goop has his business. We got access at the end of the month and my partner, who comes from those areas, has already moved in. She has been allowed to go with me to all sorts of countries, so now I am the one who has to sacrifice myself, says Johan.
“The bidding war did not happen”
He keeps the price a secret, but is very happy with it.
– The partner was familiar with the previous owner and when we heard that the farm was for sale, we jumped at the chance. The bidding war did not take place and we are very pleased. There are four stalls and stables, with space for a total of eight horses, but also a sauna and dock where we can have a boat.
The house was built in the early 20th century and is in need of some renovation work.
However, Sjöstrand has already found willing, and cheap, labor.
– I have my thumb in the middle of my hand. Luckily, both our dads are retired and interested in helping out. They have actually already been on site and fixed up the stables for the partner’s eight jumping horses.
However, don’t expect to see the handball profile in the saddle any day soon.
– I can’t do anything and have never even tried, because of the risk of injury. It is not the time to come to the trainer and say that you broke your leg during a fall. However, I help with mopping boxes and filling up water, that must also be done.
“I am open to all suggestions”
Johan is a well-known face in trotting, with great success both as a player, breeder and owner.
Among other things, through his cooperative game, he has been the architect behind several major million-dollar wins and has been freelancing for the trade magazine Travronden for some time now.
– After the move, I hope there will be more of that product. You have to try to get a job. If someone has something interesting, just shout! I post a personal ad.
What would you like to work on?
– I am open to most things, but it is clear that the trot has been my great interest for the past 20 years. Trotting TV, maybe? I like horses in general and am open to all suggestions.
“Of course it’s a dream”
The interest in horses has existed since an early age and he currently has two competition horses of his own, as well as a foal mare, Harvard Student, together with former handball star and friend Magnus Jernemyr.
Over the years, the duo has among other things picked out the young horse star Axl Rose, who was trained by Alessandro Gocciadoro and in 2019 was the favorite to win the Italian Derby.
– He won several major races and earned around six million, but unfortunately he galloped in the lead in the Derby. Otherwise, there would have been a few million more in the account.
The trotting journey began in earnest in 2000 when he saw his first Elite race on site.
The winner’s name was Victory Tilly and the dream of one day managing to pick a horse good enough to start at Solvalla on the last Sunday in May lives on.
– However, you know how difficult it is, with only a few who manage to get all the way there. But of course it is a dream.
“I do the little I can…”
Johan is on weekdays the last outpost of the Danish top team Bjerringbro-Silkeborg.
The playoffs have just started, but the start was not what the 37-year-old had imagined.
It was a loss – and the goalkeeper does not seem completely satisfied with the day’s form.
– It’s probably not at its best. I do the little I can with my poor body. It has been a tough year, physically, and Saturday was not a highlight for the team. However, we have five games left to turn the tables and make it to the semi-finals. Hope lives on.
Last fall, he was forced to have another knee operation, the fifth in a row, and even though his head would have liked to continue, he is beginning to accept that age and injuries have finally taken their toll.
“Feels strange – everything has its time”
Sjöstrand’s contract expires this summer and there are no plans to extend it, something he talked about in Åbytravet’s podcast “Travtjót”.
After four years on the other side of the Öresund Bridge, it’s time to pack the suitcase again for the summer, although now the move is going home to the motherland after a long-term career in all kinds of top clubs around Europe.
An era is thus soon going to the grave.
– It feels a little strange to stop. Handball is more or less the only thing I have done during my adult life, with a professional contract already when I was 19. Everything has its time and you have to accept that the body is not up to this load, he concludes.
2024-04-09 07:47:32
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