16 March 2024
Circus Hasselborg coming to town
Olympic champions, two-time European champions, and multiple Grand Slam winners – Sweden’s team Hasselborg is returning to represent Sweden at the world championship and fight for the one title they are missing. They have been close several times but came up short in the finals. The last time, in 2019, they lost to Switzerland’s team Tirinzoni, who has won every world championship ever since and will be attempting to defend their title again in Sydney, Nova Scotia, this month.
Sweden’s initial goal is to win a medal. “There are teams that are above us in the rankings and they have had a phenomenal season and we will do our best to put on a great show and have fun. I know that if we get rolling we will get tough to beat too,” says the skip Anna Hasselborg.
At the moment, the team is ranked fifth in the World Team Ranking, behind the other three teams that are going to participate in the BKT Tires World Women’s Curling Championship 2024; team Tirinzoni from Switzerland, team Homan from Canada, and team Gim from Korea.
“We feel very excited to be playing in Canada and on the East Coast where we have played a few Grand Slams in Nova Scotia and there is always a great crowd,” adds Hasselborg.
It will be their fourth trip across the pond this season as they have already played four Grand Slam events in Canada.
Anna Hasselborg herself has won every available title, including world juniors and world mixed doubles, but has yet to reach the top of the podium of the women’s world championship. The last Swedish team that won a gold medal at this event was skipped by Anette Norberg in 2011.
“It is this one title we are missing, but we are not thinking about it too much. We just want to go out there and enjoy ourselves. We are in year two of the Olympic cycle where we have our goals, and we are in the process that we believe in,” says Hasselborg.
Circus Hasselborg
“Circus Hasselborg,” as they call themselves, is known for taking their families on tour with them. It includes four small children and other family members who take care of them when the team is on the ice.
“To bring our family along on the tour has definitely been logistically more complicated but so far so good. It is definitely a circus and it is chaotic and crazy but it is our crazy and we love it. We love to have a big team around us. It is also a privilege to be able to bring the kids with us like that.”
Another logistic issue might be the fact that their lead, Sofia Mabergs, no longer lives in Sweden. She moved to Saskatoon, Canada, to live with her partner but still regularly visits Sweden to train with the rest of the team.
“We try to schedule a few European tours during the season and when Sofia is here we spend pretty much all the time in Sweden training together and playing competitions. Since the season is so busy, the rest of the time we are probably in Canada playing anyway, so it has not been that big of an adjustment, to be honest. Some team meetings we have to do online and at a later hour but everything has been working out really good,” explains Hasselborg.
“The last couple of years I have been spending more and more time here. I am in the process of becoming a permanent resident,” said Sofia Mabergs in an interview with Global News.
Hasselborg’s current team got together in 2015. Since then, they have represented Sweden six times at world championships, bringing home two silver medals. They have also, as the only women’s team, won all four major Grand Slams. The team missed this season’s European championship when they lost the national Euro Challenger against team Wranaa. However, the qualification process for the world women’s was set as the best five results on tour this season which for team Hasselborg included winning the Oslo Cup and the Insitu Players Open. Therefore, they are going to represent Sweden once again for the seventh time in a row.
Written by feature writer, Anna Kubeskova
