More than 3,000 athletes swarmed to Östersund in northern Sweden the last weekend in January to compete in the annual Swedish Winter Sports Champions. Athletes competed in everything from snowmobile racing to Thai boxing, cross-country skiing to speed skating. The crowning moment was the curling tournament. The winners of the men’s and women’s tournaments automatically qualify to play in the Curling World Cup.
The winter games featured both individual athletes and members of sports clubs.

Biathlon
In the men’s 20 kilometer, Gabriel Stegmayr missed just two targets while covering the course in 1:03:00 to claim the gold medal over Pontus Olsson, who finished 2:33 behind Stegmayr. Olsson also missed four targets. Niclas Larsson, a teammate of Stegmayr at Dala-Järna, took the bronze medal.
Magnus Jonsson of hometown club Biahtlon Östersund won the men’s 15-kilometer mass start. Christopher Eriksson of Tullus finished second while Jonny Gode of Sundsvall Biathlon was third. Stegmayr finished fifth.
In women’s biathlon, Emilie Larsson and Elin Mattsson of SK Bore took the gold and silver in the 15-kilometer race. Larsson beat Mattsson by 1:48.6 as she suffered just four time penalties for missed shots. Mona Brorsson, skiing for Beteds SKF, came in third.
Hometown girl Anna-Maria Nilsson of Biathlon Östersund won the women’s 12.5-kilometer mass start race. Nilsson was perfect from the firing line and completed the course in 39:51.8 Jenny Jonsson of 21 IF came in second, two seconds behind Nilsson. Her teammate, Elisabeth Högberg, finished in third.

Snowmobiling
Petter Narsa knocked off Adam Renheim to claim his second Swedish championship in snowmobiling. Narsa also won the gold in 2011. A Swedish-record crowd of 4,000 people jammed into the Jämtkraft Arena to watch the final.

Motorcycle Racing
Three teams rose to the top at the track at Östersund, with Jämtlands MK taking first place. Jämtlands riders Johan Lundkvist and Robert Gjersvold took first and second place while Eleonor Dyvinger contributed points with a 17th-place showing. Ulvarna finished second,thanks to third- and fourth-place showings from Andreas Bergström and Michael Jarl. Teammate Jimmy Axelsson finished in18th place. Hammarby took the bronze, with Per-Anders Lindström coming in fifth and Robert Henderson sixth. Fredrik Johansson finished in 19th place.
The top 20 finishers all earned points for their teams.

Thai Boxing
Johnny Iwersen electrified the crown with a knockout off Joel Larsson in the 91-kilogram weight class at the Swedish Thai Boxing championship. Iwersen, who fights for Halmstad Muay Thai, has his eyes firmly set on the upcoming world championships and on turning professional in the Ultimate Fighter circuit. If he succeeds, he would be the first Swede to make it to the UFC.
Sadibou Sy of Wasa kampsportscenter defeated Sebastian Karlström from Hudiksvalls Muay Thai to take the 86-kilogram crown. Rickard Pettersson of Halmstad Muay Thai won the 81 kilogram weight class, defeating Yasin Bensenouci of Vallentuna boxing camp.
In the 75-kilogram class, Alexander Tobiasson Harris from Fighter Muay Thai beat Johan Herö of Halmstad Muay Thai. Anders Ngyuen from TIP Muay Thai beat Ricardo Gonzales of Stockholm Muay Thai for the 71-kilogram gold. In the 67-kilogram class, Sahir Ahmed from Slagskeppet won the gold over Adel Ekvall of Halmstad Muay Thai.
Daniel Carlsson from Karlstad Muay Thai beat Saranhey Lindberg of the Västerås Kampsportscenter for the 63.5 kilogram title. In the final weight class, Hamza Bougmza from Rinkeby Muay Thai beat Karam Salman of Real Fighter to take the 60-kilogram title.
On the women’s side, Susan Kariuki of the Stockholm Boxing Center IF beat Johanna Rydberg from Helsingborgs Muay Thai for the 51 kilogram title. Sofia Olofsson of Slagskeppet defeated Jessica Isaksson from Renyi for the 57-kilogram gold, Emma Thyni from Malmö Muay Thai won the gold Elna Nilsson from Real Fighter the 57 kilogram class and Miriam Ekvall from Halmstad Muay Thai beat Lina Länsberg from Malmö Muay Thai in the 63.5 kilogram class. Sanja Trbojevic of Malmö Muay Thai beat Jennifer Österlin from Fighter Muay Thai to take the 67-kilogram title.

Ski Orienteering
One of the more hotly contested championships came in men’s ski orienteering. The sport is a hybrid of cross-country skiing and orienteering – a race that includes the ability to navigate from point to point using a compass. Andreas Holmberg of IFK Mora SM used a last-minute spurt of speed to beat Daniel Nordebo from Älvsby IF OK for the gold. Nordebo led for most of the race until Holmberg caught him at the final waypoint. Ullrik Nordberg from Bergnaäsets AIK took the bronze.

Weightlifting
Henrik “Saft” Franzen from Lunds SK set a Swedish record in the 105 kilogram class weightlifting championship when he snatched 300 kilograms off the floor to claim the gold medal. Combined, Franzen snatched 750 kilograms, five more than the record he set last year. Mikael Gullander of Jönköping SK took the silver with a total of 717.5 kilograms. Franzen’s teammate, Axel Kjellman, took the bronze with a total lift of 715 kilos.

Squash
Christian Drakenberg came from behind to win his sixth Swedish title in squash when he overcame Rasmus Holt 5-4 in a best-of-five final. Holt held a 10-5 lead in Game 8 – with a 2-1 series lead – when Drakenberg came to life. He won the game 13-11 then defeated Holt 11-4 in the decisive fifth game to t
ake the gold.
The women’s final was a family affair as Anna Carin Forstadius defeated her sister, Lovisa, in three straight sets to win the gold.

Curling
Härnösands CK, Team First Hotels, won the men’s championship in curling, defeating Lits CC från Östersund 7-6 in the final. Skip Marcus Hasselborg, Peder Folke, Andreas Prytz och Anton Sandström now automatically qualify for the curling World Cup, which is a club tournament.
AllTele of Skellefteå behind skip Margaretha Sigfridsson, Maria Prytz, Christina Bertrup and Maria Wennerström upset reigning world champions Team Ahlmarks of Karlstad 9-4 to win the women’s tournament.