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Sweden making a splash in Rio 2016
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July/August 2016 Vol 87:06 $4.95
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Rio 2016 insights Interview with John A. Mirisch Pemmican Wolf Hotel
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Global Swedes 16 Putting Sweden on the Map – Abroad: John A. Mirisch
21 Road to Community
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Swedish Press
Feature 10 Sweden’s Summer Olympics Lineup Interview 12 Thomas Petersson Heritage 14 Lär Dig Svenska 15 When Pemmican Made History
In the Loop 24 Landskapsnyheterna 27 Canada, US & Beyond 28 Calendar and Events 29 Ads and Info 30 Sista Ordet The Syn and Moon Safari join forces for “Trustworks” 31 Press Byrån Left: Frances Anne Hopkins’ “Shooting the Rapids” is one of her most famous paintings. Pemmican is probably what keeps the Voyageurs alive during their fur-trading journeys. Cover image: Sweden’s Sarah Sjöström powers to victory in the 100-meter butterfly at the 2015 World Championships in Kazan. Photo: AFP-JIJI
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Sweden’s Summer Olympics Lineup By Marcus Andersson
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weden has participated in nearly every modernera Summer Olympics and has many talented athletes competing and this year in Brazil is no exception. Sweden is binging many talented athletes to Rio de Janeiro this August 5-21. Before tuning in to watch the games, though, it is useful to get to know our country’s teams – on land, in water, and in the rings and courts. Although a comprehensive list of all our athletes would be hard to include in the confines of two pages, here are some of Sweden’s promising contenders for this summer’s Olympic medals. The Swedish men’s football team has received a significant amount of media attention leading up to Rio, especially regarding Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s potential to join the squad. The football star, who is now competing with the Swedish national team in the UEFA Euro Cup, has expressed interest to play for Sweden in the Olympics, but it is uncertain whether or not his schedule will permit him. Each team is allowed three players over 23 years old, and Zlatan would be one such senior member for the Swedish team. Aside from the Zlatan question, the media has also expressed concern over Sweden’s group draw (some
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news sources have referred to it as a “nightmare lottery”), consisting of Japan, Nigeria, and Colombia. Coach Håkan Ericson worries about facing teams like Colombia in their native climate, to which his players are obviously not accustomed. Zlatan or no Zlatan, it will be exciting to watch Sweden play its first match on August 4th against Colombia. Sweden’s men’s handball team is another serious contender for a medal this year. Surprisingly, Sweden has never won an Olympic title in handball, though the national squad made it to the finals on four occasions. In Europe, however, Sweden performs extremely well, holding the most gold medals in the European Men’s Handball Championship. In fact, we hold the European record for most medals won in international competitions, a staggering 19, and for reaching the most medal rounds, which we’ve done in 22 tournaments. This year, we face Slovenia, Poland, Brazil, Germany, and Egypt. Though we have to face From top to bottom: Zlatan Brazil on home turf, their team Ibrahimovic © Getty Imagdoes not boast an intimidating es, Henrik Stenson © Getty Images, Sarah Sjöström track record, nor do any of the © Claudio Bresciani/TT, other squads in our heat. On the Max Salminen © TT women’s side, Sweden faces the Netherlands, Russia, France, Argentina, and South Korea. Golfer Henrik Stenson is yet another star athlete representing Sweden in Brazil. He is ranked as the 7th best golfer in the world, according to the Official World Golf Ranking, and has spent over 100 weeks on the World top ten list. In 2013, Stenson won both the U.S. PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup
and the European Tour’s Race to Dubai, achieving a historic double victory. Though Australia, Britain, and America dominate the World list, Stenson certainly has a chance at a medal this summer. Another of Sweden’s most promising entries is swimmer Sarah Sjöström, who specialises in sprint freestyle and butterfly. She is only 22 years old, and is the current world-record holder in the 50m and 100m butterfly events, as well as the 200m freestyle. Sjöström has won several gold medals in world and European championships, but she has yet to take home a medal from an Olympic competition. When asked about the Rio games, she says “I’ve performed well in all the competitions over the last three to four years, and I want to continue my evolution.” The 100m butterfly is her most likely chance at a gold medal. Our sailors and rowers also make Sweden a formidable aquatic force, with Max Salminen entered in the Finn event. SalmFrom top to bottom: Petter inen won the gold in Star class Menning, Meraf Bahta, together with Fredrik Lööf in the Michaela Meijer(left), Angelica Bengtsson (rigt), 2012 London Games, and could Lisa Nordén © Scanpix outperform himself this year in Rio. Petter Menning will compete in the Men’s K-1 200m sprint canoeing, an event he has received the gold medal for in the European Championships. On land, Sweden has several talented athletes entered in the track & field events. One such athlete is Meraf Bahta, a runner specialising in 1500m and 3000m. She moved to Sweden in 2008 seeking asylum from Eritrea, became a citizen in 2014, and broke the national record in 5000m the same year. Angelica Therese Bengtsson is a pole vaulter who has performed impressively at several junior athletic competitions, and currently holds the Swedish national record.
Michaela Meijer, Bengtssons’ team mate in pole vault, is also a strong contender for this year’s events. Lisa Nordén will represent Sweden in the Olympic triathlon, which she won the silver medal for in 2012’s games. Nordén has won several triathlon competitions and shows much promise for this summer’s event. Emma Johansson, another Olympic silver medalist, will compete in cycling this year, and will perhaps win the women’s road race she earned silver in eight years ago. In martial arts and other combat sports, Sweden has several entries, including boxing, taekwondo, wrestling, and judo. Our boxer in the Summer Games is Anna Laurell Nash, who has claimed two World Championship golds, three European Championship golds, and seven golds in the Swedish National Championship. Nash reached the quarter finals for her weight class in London 2012. Another fighter to watch out for this summer is Marcus Nyman, who will vy for the From top to bottom: Emma medal in judo. He won the gold Johansson, Anna Laurell medal at the 2010 European Judo Nash, Marcus Nyman, Johan Eurén Championships, and took home the bronze medal in 2011 and 2016. Finally, one should pay attention to the wrestling matches of Johan Eurén, who earned a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the Greco-Roman 120kg category. Sweden has a total of 138 athletes competing in twenty sports, and several of them are realistic contenders for medals in their respective events. We’re sending our best wishes to all of the contenders this summer as we cheer loudly from the Swedish sidelines.
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‘My motto continues to be...
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John A. Mirisch, a dual Swedish/American citizen, movie studio executive, politician and Mayor of Beverly Hills, California.
What made you decide to get a Swedish citizenship? I had lived in Sweden for a number of years and felt very connected to the country and very much at home. I felt like it really was “my” country. While I was living there, Sweden finally started to allow dual citizenship, so it was a natural step to become a fully integrated part of Swedish society.
The Honorable John A. Mirisch is the first Swedish national to serve as Mayor of Beverly Hills. A dual Swedish/American citizen, he was elected to the City Council in 2009 and 2013. A fourth generation Beverly Hills resident and film distribution executive, John grew up in a family of film industry executives. His grandfather and great-uncles started the Mirisch Company, which produced many of Hollywood’s most famous movies. Mirisch started his career at 20th Century Fox, and later with United International Pictures which both took him several times to Sweden, where Bengt Bengtson taught him everything he knew about distribution. Prior to politics he was an executive with Paramount Pictures. Swedish Press met Mirisch in his Beverly Hills Mayoral office.
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What surprised you most about Sweden? I had no expectations at all. I was just there to work, but I really enjoyed living in Sweden from the first day on. So I immediately started to learn the Swedish language to be able to participate in the culture and really appreciate everything that is good about Sweden. As is the case with most countries, the language is the key to understanding Sweden: its culture, history, literature, art, people and so much more. For this reason I speak only Swedish with my 8 year old son despite his having been born in the US. He is, after all, also a Swedish citizen and it is important for me to share with him a love for and appreciation of Sweden. Perhaps later on he might like to study or live in Sweden. He has been there with me twice, loves it and understands it’s also his country and culture. What made you want to leave film and be mayor?
When I moved back here from Sweden I was very disappointed with the development and direction in which the council was taking the city. It was losing much of the charm that makes this place so unique. The council seemed more interested in representing the interests of developers rather than the residents, and the unique villagelike feel of the city was disappearing. I started a blog satirically to tackle the issues of the bad deals the council was making. This resonated with many of the residents and a few people encouraged me to run for office rather than just be critical in the blog. So I did. My motto continues to be “putting residents first.” City Hall exists to serve the residents, not the other way around. What is your goal with Beverly Hills now? My focus remains on protecting and enhancing the residential quality of life and always putting residents first. We are the first city in the US to develop a city transportation system based on self-driving shuttles, which can take people from point A to point B on demand. We are in discussions with a wide variety of tech companies – including Volvo – governmental agencies, legislators and transportation experts. It is very
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Putting Sweden on the Map Abroad
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exciting to take a leadership role in what would literally represent a revolution within public transportation in America. I imagine it would be ready in some five to seven years, if not before, and the solutions we develop for Beverly Hills would work in many other cities and regions throughout the country. Another initiative was to create a series of concerts, “Sing-Along with the Mayor and Council.” “Fun” is not a word one normally associates with local government, but we’re trying to bring the community together with this very Swedish activity. More than 500 people came to the first Sing-Along in March. So your “Swedish-ness” is inluencing your work? Yes, in numerous ways. I share the Swedish love of nature and concern for our environment, so I led BH to be the first city in the state to ban fracking outright. I believe in the Swedish concept of “rättvisa” or fairness, trying to create fairness, even when there is none. Children often complain when things are not fair and adults usually answer “well, life isn’t always fair.” I don’t accept that and I’ve never said that to my boy. I believe it’s our job to do something about that and make things as fair as possible. It’s a very Swedish way of thinking. However, within
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‘...putting residents first.’ our political systems, I prefer the American way of electing representatives who are directly responsible to their voters. Sweden votes for parties rather than individuals (with the limited ability to check an individual on a list). This results in politicians who are often more loyal to their respective parties than to the voters. I want my elected representatives to have two main qualities: the ability to think for themselves with their hearts in the right place. Is there something Swedish you always have with you? Definitely the language, along with my Swedish values. I try to watch Swedish shows online, read Swedish news, and listen to Swedish music. I still have my condo in Stockholm, and like to go back home to as often as possible, though it’s not enough. Swedish summers are hard to beat. Though BH weather is amazing year round, I miss Stockholm a lot, particularly in the summer. What does the future hold? I may go back to work in the film industry at some point, but right now this is a full time job. I love BH, but as I said at my installation: “It’s possible to have more than one home, and I have both BH and Stockholm”. How does your son Vin affect your work? In everything I do. My goal is to retain the unique charm and sense of community of BH, (unlike the widespread BH stereotype), from
when I grew up, but to improve it with today’s technology. We are only 35,000 people in Beverly Hills. My son is a 5th generation BH resident, in a city which is only a little more than 100 years old. I am very strict with him about speaking Swedish – if he speaks Swenglish (or “dolphar” as we say in Swedish), he has to put a quarter in our Dolph Jar. He enjoys watching Swedish Minecraft videos. He is proud of his Swedish citizenship, and knows he can one day be prime minister of Sweden, though at this stage it seems he might like to be a professional baseball player and/or the President of the United States. Since I myself have no plans to run for US president (can you blame me?), as an elected official with experience in the American system, perhaps I could at some stage bring a different and valuable perspective to Swedish politics in the future. I care deeply about Sweden and it would be both interesting and fun to engage in public service in Sweden someday. I feel I could bring perspective and common sense to the table, which is sorely missing in many aspects of politics today all over the world, including sometimes in the Swedish Parliament. Right now another Swede, Göran Eriksson, was elected to the Culver City city council, so together we thought we would start a Swedish Caucus to spread Swedish culture throughout Southern California. Interviewed by Birgitta Lauren
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