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As the BAUHAUS-galan meeting returns to Stockholm this Sunday, the spotlight won’t fall entirely on Sweden’s athletics icons like Olympic gold medallists Armand Duplantis and Daniel Ståhl.
Home supporters also have a new of homegrown talent to get behind, led by high jump sensation Engla Nilsson and middle-distance breakthrough star Samuel Pihlström—two athletes embodying the bright future of Swedish athletics.
For Nilsson, who has just turned 20, the past few months have transformed her from promising junior to international medal-winner.
Her surprise bronze at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in March marked a stunning rise, one that included sharing the podium with high jump royalty such as Olympic champion and world record holder Yaroslava Mahuchikh of Ukraine and European silver medallist Angelica Topic of Serbia.
“Yeah, I feel like people expect me to jump much higher than I did before,” Nilsson says ahead of her Diamond League debut on Sunday. “But I feel like that’s one of the things that motivates me the most. So, I’m quite motivated by people having high expectations on me. I know what I can do, and I just keep thinking about that.”
That self-belief was hard-won. Not long ago, Nilsson was one of many young athletes watching the likes of Mahuchikh on television. Suddenly, she was competing alongside them.
“Actually, over half a year ago, I just watched them on TV thinking, ‘Oh, one day I can be there.’ But then it happened. It was weird. They were so normal—just normal people in their lives. I don’t know what I expected, but they were so kind to me. It was a wonderful feeling.”
Beyond her podium finish, Nilsson also made headlines recently for something a little more unconventional, unofficially equalling the U20 world best in the standing high jump.
“It was just a fun thing. I haven’t really practiced for it; I just do it as an exercise in training. Then we noticed I was pretty good at it, and we looked up the record—it was 1.50m for 19-year-olds, and I jumped 1.47m in practice. So, we set up a real competition, and I did 1.45. But in training, I did 1.50m.”
With expectations now elevated, Nilsson returns to home soil hoping to continue her upward trajectory in front of a supportive Swedish crowd.
Alongside her, Samuel Pihlström is another young Swede stepping into the senior spotlight with increasing confidence. A former European Youth Orienteering Champion, Pihlström made the decisive switch to track and field during the pandemic—and has been climbing the ranks ever since.
“Yeah, I quit orienteering during the pandemic, in 2020, and then I never came back,” he says. Thus far, he has enjoyed a superb year, setting new national records for the 1500m outdoors (3:30.87), 1500m indoors (3:35:47) and mile indoors (3:54.78).
“I had a great indoor season, and the training went so well during the autumn, winter, and spring that my expectations were already high—even on January 1st.”
Those expectations proved well placed. Pihlström’s consistency and rapid improvement have earned him growing recognition in both the 800m and 1500m, especially after winning the double at Finnkamp, the hugely popular annual Sweden-Finland match in the same Stockholm Olympic Stadium two years ago—a moment he still remembers fondly.
“That was a bit surprising for many people. But it was a good memory,” he smiles.
As Sweden’s premier athletics meeting beckons, both Nilsson and Pihlström are no longer the surprise packages—but are both ready for the spotlight and the ready to lead the next generation of Swedish talent.
