Tug of War World Champion Lina Lindquist Olsson (SWE) has been presented this week on The World Games’ social media channels, as her team, Sweden Mixed 580 kg, has qualified for The World Games 2022 in Birmingham, Alabama. Lindquist Olsson is already looking forward to The Games: “My aim for The World Games 2022 is to be in the best form I can be for the team, to help achieve our goals.”
Lindquist Olsson started with Tug of War in 2016. “A friend that was in Tug of War asked if I wanted to train with them. I hadn’t done any sport before, and I found Tug of War to be an intense and rough sport, and a big challenge.” This year she became World Champion in two different categories: Women 540 kg and Mixed 580 kg. In the teams there are eight pullers, whose maximum weight cannot exceed the weight class. The Mixed team is now preparing for The World Games. “We do quick runs, pull in teams with weights and then against each other. Normally I run both intervals and long runs, and of course I practice pulling on a rope a lot,” Lindquist Olsson says and continues: “It’s very important to have strength in legs and arms, to hold your body weight, and also power in the legs to be able to pull at all.” She is competing in both women’s and mixed teams. “I’ve been in mixed teams since I started; it’s a bit different from women’s teams. I think it’s a bit heavier in all ways. There is more pressure on the rope.”
For day work, Lina Lindquist Olsson drives a truck to transport gravel, and in winter she also drives a snowplough. While she only started Tug of War at the age of 16, she says the sport suits children too: “As long as they can stand on two legs they can always try to pull.”
For Alabama’s hot temperatures, Lindquist Olsson aims to prepare by training with more clothes on than normal. Her goal for 2022 is to train and stay healthy: “I train so that I feel that I’m in the best shape I possibly can be in, and I eat good food to stay healthy. All this I do for the best achievement for the team.” At The World Games, besides doing her best in the competitions, she would like to watch Powerlifting and DanceSports events.
If you would like to see how Lina Lindquist Olsson’s typical day looks like, follow us on Instagram or Facebook on 5 November, when she will be taking over our stories!
The World Games is a multi-sport event staged every four years by the International World Games Association, organised with the support of the International Olympic Committee. The 11th edition of The World Games will be held in Birmingham, Alabama, USA, 7-17 July 2022. 3,600 athletes from 34 sports and over 100 countries will take part in The World Games.