BAUHAUS-galan, the most important competition of the year

20-year-old Nora Lindahl feels inspired for her first individual start in a Diamond League gala. She will compete in the 200 m at BAUHAUS-galan on June 15.

–    It is an honor to run in such a big and important competition. I hope I can do a good race, says Nora Lindahl.

–   I know the tracks from before and know that the support from the audience will mean a lot, continues Nora.

In recent years, Swedish athletics has changed. Previously, middle and long distances have been the most important of the running disciplines, but now a new generation of young talented sprinters has stepped forward. Nora Lindahl, who competes for Hässelby, is one of the most interesting new sprint stars. She presented herself for the first time by winning the 200 m at the 2023 Junior European Championships. Last year, Nora participated in the two most important international senior championships; the European Championships and the Olympics. In the European Championships, Nora reached the semi-finals and was extremely close to taking a place in the final.

After her fine efforts in 2024, Nora received the award for Breakthrough of the Year in the national team at the end of the athletics season.

This year, the U23 European Championships in Bergen, Norway, July 17-20, and the World Championships in Tokyo in September are the big goals.

Nora Lindahl's investment is a project that involves her entire family. Her mother Frida is a coach and her father Markus is her manager and arranges for Nora to run good competitions with good conditions for fast times.

Markus Lindahl was raised in Finland and has previously competed in the Finnish national team. In order to help Nora get into the best competitions possible, Markus has obtained a license from the international athletics federation World Athletics as an "Athlete representative", which is a prerequisite for being able to represent Nora against organizers of the major international athletics galas.

Markus has watched 90 percent of Nora's races in recent years, and has therefore been able to follow his daughter's development closely.

–    She has gone from being a slow youth to becoming a fast junior and now also a fast senior. Nora showed promising form when she set a European indoor record in the U23 class in the 200 meters with 23.00 last winter. It suits her much better to compete outdoors where the curves are not as steep, says Markus.

Frida Lindahl has been Nora's coach ever since she started athletics.

–     When Nora was five years old, she was there as something of a mascot when I trained her older sister. Since then, I have continued as Nora's coach and trained as a coach and then furthered my education. When Nora started competing, she was no better than other girls her age.

–      During her last year of high school, things started to go well. She was given the opportunity to train during school hours for a few hours a week. After high school, Nora has focused on athletics full-time. She has not studied further or worked. We have been able to increase her training year by year.

Nora has dual citizenship, Swedish and Finnish. She has chosen to represent Sweden in international championships, but competes for Helsinki IFK in the Finnish championships. The last two years, Nora has run the final distance when Helsinki won the 4x100 m at the Finnish championships. The Lindahl family lives in Luxembourg but expects to spend more time in Sweden in the future.

–      I really hope that the planned hall in Ulvsunda will be finished before Nora retires as a sprinter, says Markus Lindahl.

In Luxembourg, Nora has previously trained with two other female sprinters, but this year she is training alone because it was not possible to get the planning together with the two other girls due to different competition schedules.

– This year we have increased from six to seven training sessions a week, says Frida Lindahl by phone from Tenerife where Nora is currently at a training camp.

– There will be double sessions one day and one rest day a week. Nora will be able to train and compete more. Previously, she has had problems running several races in quick succession at a championship. The training will also increase her speed. So far, Nora Lindahl has competed in the 100 m and 200 m, with 200 m being the main distance. In the future, it is likely that Nora will go up to 400 m. 400 m is in the future plans. It is very possible that we will end up there eventually, says Frida Lindahl.

– But first we have to develop our speed.

Nora is interested in trying the 400 m:

– I myself feel that I can reach the world elite in the 400 m.

–      It will be difficult to fit a 400 m race into this summer's busy schedule. Nora is currently aiming for Sweden's most important athletics competition, the BAUHAUS Gala, on June 15:

–      I ran surprisingly well in the 200 m indoors, and now it feels good to be able to run 200 m outdoors.

Text: Anders Olsson