There is a time after the Olympic Games in Paris.
Sweden's beach volleyball men want to savor this candy for a while longer, but then it's full focus ahead for the 22-year-old Olympic champions.
The Olympic Games have been our big dream. First to play an Olympic Games and then to take a medal and not least to take a gold. And now we've done it. But we're young and have so much more to give, so we'll just keep training and become as good as possible, says David Åhman.
There are always things to fine-tune, such as attack and serve reception. And serving is not our strength, that's something we can really develop. There are many things, many details, says Jonatan Hellvig.
"Crazy much support"
The gold in Paris has created waves back in Sweden, they've noticed. Interest in beach volleyball isn't usually the biggest back home, but the last few weeks it has exploded.
It's something they want to build on.
Yes, really. We want beach volleyball and volleyball to grow in Sweden. We've really noticed that there's been crazy much support and attention for us at the Olympic Games. We hope we can keep it up. That more people become interested and want to start playing, says Hellvig.
Competition in Stockholm?
And they dream of bringing international stars to Sweden. Several of the best national teams came to train with Åhman and Hellvig during the Olympic buildup on Bosön outside Stockholm earlier this summer. In the future, the Swedes want to be able to invite their rivals to regular tournaments.
It would be cool if there could be some bigger competition in Sweden too. That we would get to play on home soil sometime would be super cool. You've heard the old volleyball veterans talk about how "back in my day, there were competitions on Medborgarplatsen", says David Åhman.
And yes, it would be awesome if it could happen again sometime in the future.
So, the World Tour to "Medis" simply?
Yes, World Tour Medis, then we'll go for it, says Åhman.
It would be awesome, says Hellvig.
