In terms of results, last season was the best so far for Aaron Lindström. Skövdesonen took bronze in the slalom in the Para WC and landed in an overall third place in the slalom cup.
Behind multiple Paralympic champion and WC gold medalist Ebba Årsjö, he is Sweden’s most successful alpine para-skier and expects to take new steps as he now looks forward to a new winter.
– The slalom has gone well and now I also want to get up to the same level in giant slalom. I have high expectations, he says.
Aaron Lindström was born with dysmelia and missing forearm on left side. He grew up in a religious family, learned to ski in the local Billingebacken and was encouraged early on to invest in sports.
Aaron Lindström excitedly looks forward to a new winter season. Photo: Meli Petersson Ellafi/Bildbyrån
Over the years, faith in God has only grown stronger and helped him as a professional downhill skier.
– I had a natural path into the church through my family, but I made my own decision when I was in my teens and since then it has only grown, says Aaron Lindström and continues:
– It becomes a more interesting relationship the longer it lasts. You get to know God more and more.
With an intense competition schedule, he’s on the road about 150 days each year, he says, and the Bible goes with him wherever he goes.
– I read the Bible every day. It gets better and more interesting the more you read it. There is a lot of guidance and comfort for all situations, really. It affects so much in life.
The Bible clearly states that nothing is impossible. It’s a cliché, but if you really believe in it, as I do, you can tackle problems in a different way.
A word he often returns to is purpose. Through Christianity, Aaron Lindström is instilled with the power and strength to be a positive role model.
– Why do you do what you do? I can connect it to my Christian faith – not only for myself but for others.
– I can almost feel that I perform better when I do it for someone else. I do it to inspire others. Then it is easier to take on tough, hard sessions and get through difficult times.
Is there someone specific you want to inspire?
– It’s everyone, but above all disabled people. That they should dare to dream. The Bible clearly states that nothing is impossible. It’s a cliché, but if you really believe in it, as I do, you can tackle problems in a different way. Having such pieces with you and believing in them is of great use in everyday life.
Aaron Lindström, here in super-G during the Paralympics in Beijing, competes in all alpine disciplines. Photo: Björn Larsson Rosvall/TT
Not more than At 23 years old, Aaron Lindström has managed to gather a lot of routine. He has already participated in two Paralympics, in 2018 and 2022, and was the only Swedish top skater when he debuted in the World Cup as a 17-year-old.
Since then, he has been joined in Sweden’s alpine para national team by the aforementioned Ebba Årsjö, 22, and Arvid Skoglund, 20, and has seen the operation become more professional with each passing season.
– Enormous strides have been made in paraskiing Sweden. The conditions have improved and everything flows more smoothly. Everything is developing in the right direction. The conditions are not at all the same as when I started. Back then it was much worse.
What are the most noticeable differences?
– Now we have a proper team with a coaching staff, national team captain, fencers, mental coaches. It’s super luxurious.
One of Aaron Lindström’s mental coaches, Anders Marklund, happens to have a background as a sports pastor and director of a mission church.
– It’s great to be able to talk about these questions – why you do something. What the purpose is. You can get guidance from a person who has traveled a long way before you, he says.
Image 1 of 2 Aaron Lindström and Ebba Årsjö show off their medals from the Para WC last winter. Photo: Oscar Olsson/Bildbyrån Image 2 of 2 Aaron Lindström and Ebba Årsjö at a kick-off meeting in Stockholm ahead of a new winter season. Photo: Pontus Lundahl/TT
He does everything in his power to get down the hill as fast as possible. How it goes then, he leaves to higher powers.
– I do my best and a little more – and ask God to do the rest. I can feel that God is on my side, to feel that confidence at the start… it’s powerful.
Is there always a meaning to how it goes, regardless of the outcome?
– You can learn from everything, but it may not be God’s intention that it should go badly. It’s me who does the work myself. The work I put in is the basis for the result I get.
– You do the work, but then you can still put it in God’s hands.
2023-12-12 08:00:26
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