Sweden has begun to investigate the conditions for holding the Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Sweden in 2030. Åsa Llinares Norlin, chairman of the Swedish Paralympic Committee, is happy that the process has started.
- Very exciting of course that we are starting this preliminary study.
I think it will give us a lot of answers to what is needed.
Especially when it comes to sports for people with disabilities, there are many things around that need to work, she tells SVT Sport.
Paralympics important for Sweden
Åsa Llinares Norlin sees great benefits for Swedish para sports if the Paralympics were to be held in Sweden.
- To focus on these issues that are needed all around and which are not in our mission but which are the responsibility of the state, the regions and the municipalities, to really make an accessible society.
I think these games will be able to help with that.
And I think that will benefit even more people to become active in sports, says Llinares Norlin.
"Paralympic sport is just as much elite sport"
Sweden applied to host the 2026 Olympics in Stockholm and Åre but lost the vote.
The championship will instead be arranged in Milan and Cortina in Italy.
Åsa Llinares Norlin has the loss of the 2026 Olympics with her in her memory but would like to look ahead.
She sees the collaboration as the biggest lesson from the tours around that championship.
- If we look at, for example, Paris 2024, it is the first time that you have a common logo at the Olympics and Paralympics.
It has always been divided, for a while the Olympics and Paralympics were not in the same place.
Just to see that Paralympic sports are just as much elite sports as other sports, she says.