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Congratulations to the Olympic medallists!

Två ungdomar med blommor i famnen.
Olympic medallists and KTH students Jonatan Hellvig and Vilma Bobeck were celebrated at KTH.Två
Published Jan 28, 2025

Two of Sweden's eleven Olympic medals last summer were won by KTH students. Vilma Bobeck, silver in sailing, and Jonatan Hellvig, gold in beach volleyball, were finally able to celebrate their achievements at KTH.
"We are proud that you have chosen to study at KTH and you are fantastic role models for others who are considering combining elite sport with qualified studies at KTH," Anders Söderholm, President at KTH said, as the medallists were celebrated with cake, cider and a KTH pin each.

It takes drive, determination and planning to achieve the feat of combining studies with elite sport. KTH, which is also a National Sports University, has 80 students who are doing just that. In addition to an inner drive and perhaps a winning spirit, you need to plan, focus, be disciplined and make the most of your time to succeed, says Jonatan Hellvig, a third-year computer engineering student who will soon begin his bachelor's project in machine learning.

"You have to decide to go all in," he says.

For Vilma Bobeck, who is studying for a bachelor of Sceience in Engineering in construction and design, it is also about having structure, seeing solutions rather than problems, and having a kind of grounded drive.- Planning, anticipation and the ability to adapt. It was important for me to be able to study at a slower pace in order to keep up with my sport, and I think KTH helped me a lot in terms of being able to adapt the study programme to my sporting activities.
Are there similarities between your sport and studying at KTH?

"Absolutely, sailing is all about problem solving, logical thinking and being able to recognise the opportunities that exist in relation to wind, waves and weather conditions," Vilma Bobeck says.

Five students competed

Four persons in a row  celebrating.
Deputy President Mikael Lindström, Jonatan Hellvig, Vilma Bobeck and Anders Söderholm, President at the celebration at KTH.

During the ceremony, Jonas Willén, director of the KTH Riksidrottsuniversitet (National Sports University), explained that a total of five KTH students competed in the Olympics this summer, and that KTH, together with GIH, has a master's programme in sports technology that uses technology to improve the conditions for elite sports performance and better health.
"You could even say that we have won more medals, considering the research that led to Truls Möregård's racket , in which KTH was involved."
Gustav Heldt, chairman of the Student Union at the School of Engineering, spoke about the importance of role models and how inspiring they are. Christer Fuglesang told the story of how he had to choose a few things to take with him on his first space trip in 2006. One of them was a gold pin with the KTH emblem on it. Once he landed on earth again, he put the KTH pin back in a jar among other pins - so one of them has been in space. Perhaps one of the medallists honoured for the day got it.

The medallists in brief

Name: Vilma Bobeck
Age: 27 years old
Last medal: Silver in the 49erFX class in sailing in Marseille in the 2024 Summer Olympics together with Rebecca Netzler.
Role model: Many - not least in the Swedish national sailing team.
Dream: Olympic gold in Los Angeles maybe. But I am performance driven so sometimes the performance itself and how and what I did and how I can develop is the important thing.
Best thing about winning Olympic silver: Being able to celebrate with everyone who was there when we arrived and who carried and supported us - family, friends and a support group of maybe 50 people.
Place for the medals: A bit scattered - in a box. Not on a pedestal, anyway.

Name: Jonatan Hellvig
Age: 23 years old
Latest medal: Olympic gold in beach volleyball in Paris in summer 2024 together with David Åhman. Also recently won Team of the Year at the Sports Gala.
Role model: My parents who both played volleyball. By the way, my dad also went to KTH.
Dream: To win more medals and continue playing at a high level - maybe next Olympics.
Funniest thing about winning Olympic gold: After struggling for so long, it was amazing that we got such a result. It was a big dream come true of course.
Place for the medals: On a shelf in the living room (the KTH pin is said to end up there too.)

Text: Jill Klackenberg
Photo: Magnus Glans

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Belongs to: About KTH
Last changed: Jan 28, 2025