Expressen's jury named Sarah Sjöström 'Woman of the Year 2026', according to their announcement. In their motivation, Expressen's jury wrote that a female role model became even stronger, they stated. Sarah Sjöström said, 'It feels very nice and honorable that Expressen crowns me to 'Woman of the Year', but it also feels a little strange because I haven't competed and taken medals this year.' Her husband, Johan de Jong Skierus, protested against his wife's modesty, saying, 'But this is a prize that builds on that you have performed and been a role model ever since you as a 14-year-old.' Johan de Jong Skierus is 36 years old, a Swedish champion in fencing, and a parental leave bank lawyer who combats money laundering, as reported.
Sjöström's year has been defined by motherhood. A little over six months ago, her son Adrian was born in an ambulance outside Södersjukhuset, she recounted. She said, 'It really went quickly and it was not at all as we had imagined it would be.' She had considered giving birth in water and was prepared to take spinal anesthesia and nitrous oxide, but none of this was done, she explained. The day after the dramatic birth, Sarah Sjöström wrote in a social media post, 'The pain was indescribable and it was too late for any pain relief I had planned. I really thought I would not survive.' She now feels a completely different sense of being a family, stating, 'But also a completely different feeling to be a family.'
But also a completely different feeling to be a family.
Her pregnancy was challenging. Sarah Sjöström vomited for the first 18 weeks of pregnancy and was once even hospitalized with an IV drip, she described.
Since her son's birth, Sarah Sjöström has less sleep and more laundry, she noted. She has also made practical changes, replacing her gold-colored electric car with a station wagon variant that better fits the stroller, she said. She got access to the gold-colored electric car through Polestar after her Olympic gold in Paris in August 2024, according to reports.
It really went quickly and it was not at all as we had imagined it would be.
Sjöström is now back in training, adapting her approach. This morning, she was content with 4,000 meters in the pool and a quarter-hour in the gym, she mentioned. She said, 'I don't compare with what I performed before pregnancy, but with what I did for times a month ago, last week, yesterday, and so on. An advantage of that is that it's fun to see how fast it's progressing now. And I know that I have come back before, when I for example rehabilitated after a broken elbow.'
Her training sessions sometimes involve unexpected lane-sharing. Elite swimmers usually don't have to share a lane with anyone else unless they want a national team teammate to spar with, according to swimming norms. The unwritten rule is that the one who is overtaken switches to a lane with a lower tempo, it is said. Today, an old man jumped into Sarah Sjöström's lane, which was not booked for the national team, she observed. When he had swum 50 meters, Sarah Sjöström had covered 200 meters, and she lapped him the whole time, she noted. She reflected, 'But today an old man jumped into my lane, which admittedly was not booked for us in the national team. When he had swum 50 meters, I had covered 200. I lapped him the whole time. It must however have been more difficult for him to have someone thundering past than for me to stay in the middle of the lane.'