Sarah Sjostrom

Swimming superstar Sarah Sjöström made history when she became the first Swedish woman to win an Olympic gold medal. In 2019 she became the only female swimmer in history to win five individual medals at a single World Aquatics Championships, and in 2022 she became the first European swimmer to win 10 individual World Championships. After winning two golds at the Worlds in Budapest along with one silver medal, she is now the most successful female swimmer of all time in terms of individual World Championship medal counts with 19 solo medals. Michael Phelps is the only swimmer in history to have won more with 20, a total the Swedish superstar is likely to surpass in the coming years.

Standing at 6’1”, Sjöström is a versatile swimmer who specialises in butterfly, freestyle and backstroke, but is primarily known for her butterfly races. Born in Salem, Sweden, by the time she was 21 years old Sjöström was a two-time Olympian and five-time World Champion.

After a legendary career at the pinnacle of her sport, Sjöström is planning to compete at two more Olympic games, taking her total to six – a feat only ever accomplished by four other swimmers. With Paris 2024 less than two years away, the swimming icon has also set her sights on the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028, two decades after first making her Olympics debut in Beijing 2008 aged just 14.