Swedish Olympic champion dies after very short illness
Swedish Olympic sprinter Linda Haglund died on Nov. 21 in Stockholm. The track and field star, 59, was an outspoken champion of equality, pay and sponsorship, a pioneer for women in sports in Sweden. She belonged to the Legends of 1956, a sports fraternity of outstanding Swedish athletes born in 1956 that included Björn Borg, Ingmar Stenmark, Thomas Wassberg and Frank Andersson. She still holds the Swedish records for several sprint distances. After her running career, Haglund married American sprint star Houston McTear. The two weren’t together many years; he died from lung cancer just three weeks before his wife died. Haglund went to the hospital with back pain when doctors found a blood clot in one lung and cancer in many parts of her body. She died six days later, said her brother.

Swedish NBA player fulfills a dream in the U.S.
Sweden’s best basketball player is now in the U.S., playing for the NBA. Jonas Jerebko signed with the Boston Celtics this fall; he hasn’t played too much yet this season, but it’s still early and he is optimistic that the more time he gets on the court, the more he’ll improve. "He’ll make shots; I’m not worried about that," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said before a recent Celtics’ loss. Stevens said Jerebko is still adjusting to practicing and playing more as small forward – a new position for the 6 foot 10 Swede, who recently announced another change in his life: He and his girlfriend are expecting a baby in 2016. Maybe the new father will raise his child in a bilingual household as his own English is practically perfect. Jerebko spent many summers with his grandparents in Syracuse, NY and in school English classes in Kinna where he grew up on Sweden’s west coast, and after several years on other NBA teams in the U.S., his accent is imperceptible.