She is the only woman in Sweden who can practice her sport full-time. Soon, Johanna Hjertberg will make her Olympic debut in "IQ-foil".
The dream had been that we were a group of girls in Sweden, she says.
Hjertberg has loved sailing since she was little. But when she discovered "foiling", she was hooked immediately.
In Marseille, she and the class will make their Olympic debut.
Then Johanna Hjertberg will stand on what she describes as a door with a stick with airplane wings.
Actually, it's the same physics, then the board I'm standing on lifts above the water surface, says the 26-year-old.
Competing against the guys
IQ-foil is a windsurfing class that has been specially selected for the 2024 Summer Olympics, among other things, for its high speeds. In competitions, sailors can reach speeds of over 25 knots, approximately 45 kilometers per hour.
Hjertberg is also the only woman in Sweden to fully commit to her sport. A lot of time is spent on travel and the economy can be difficult to manage, she says.
I would of course wish that there were more girls. The dream had been that we were a group of girls in Sweden, so that you have people to train with. But now I have to train with the young guys. It's not entirely wrong either.
They are fast, sometimes I'm faster. We "battle" quite well during training.
Continuing towards 2028
When she's not competing abroad, she trains at Sundsgymnasiet in Vellinge, which specializes in foil classes, and the training takes place in Höllviken.
Three, four years ago, Hjertberg set the Olympics as a goal. Now that the goal is being reached on July 28, she hopes to gather valuable experience for the future, and the effort continues towards the Olympics in Los Angeles 2028. After the race, she wants to feel that she's given it her all.
It's going to be super exciting. It feels good to have an experienced team with me, she says about the other seven who have been selected for the sailing team.
National team captain Magnus Grävare, who was responsible for the selection, explains that IQ-foil is faster than any other class.
There are those who think that this is not sailing, but I think this is the coolest, he says.
