Linda Haglund appeared from nowhere and quickly became one of the fastest female sprinters in Sweden. She started her sprinting career at the age of 13. When she was 14 she participated in her first Swedish Championship for women. She was 5th with a personal record of 12.2.

She became part of the Swedish national team and at the age of 16 she participated in the Munich Olympics, her first of three olympics. In Moscow 1980 she was 4th with a Swedish record that still holds.

She still holds three Swedish records for 100M, 11.16 (1980), 200M, 22.82 (1978) and 60M, 7.13 (1978). She has hold six Swedish records, all of them from European Championships or Olympics.

In her book Lindas Resa she is telling about her journey in life, from being the best athlete in her Swedish club to become one of the fastest women in the world.

Already at a young age Linda had a vision of where she was aiming and how she would get there. Throughout her career she trained on her own, even when she had her finnish coach.

Her professional approach was unusual in Sweden in the 70's. She was a pioneer in sports in Sweden. Despite her young age she was outspoken and was fighting for women's equality in sports, especially regarding pay and sponsorship, and she was the first modern Swedish female athlete to have a manager, Egon Håkansson. Linda was the first to introduce Nike in Sweden and her experience helped develop their products.

In Lindas resa she tells, for the first time in her own words, about the hard times after failing a drug test. She tells about the betrayal and about the intrigue behind the scenes, and how she managed to carry on.

In the book the reader gets a picture of how bad leadership in sports could be devastating for the individual competitor. The book also tells about good leadership.

Linda Haglund's poetic writing gives us a picture of how it is to be a sprinter.

Lindas resa (Linda's Journey)

Author: Linda Haglund
Hardback, illustrerated: 307 pages
ISBN: 978-91-85705-68-9
Format: 155 x 223 mm

Release: 17 september 2013