Swedish figure skater Anita Ostlund suffered violence from her mother. Mother has already been sentenced.
Translation of the article about Swedish figure skater Anita Ostlund who suffered violence from her mother.
source: news.sportsbox.ru dd. 14 March Alexei Zheleznov
Scandinavian figure skating isn’t at the top of the world level, so when representatives of this region manage to achieve success at international competitions, it attracts attention. In 2018, Anita Ostlund appeared, who won Nationals at a young age and finished sixth in the short program at the 2018 European Championships.
But the figure skater, who became the hope of Swedish figure skating for several years, unexpectedly quit her performances without really revealing her level. Only now have the dramatic details of this decision become known.
Anita made her big breakthrough when she became the Swedish national champion at the age of 16. She was ahead of Matilda Algotsson, a strong representative of her country in the international arena, who twice took 13th place at the European Championships (in 2016 and 2017).
Then Anita successfully skated the short program at the 2018 European Championships in Moscow, showing the sixth result. In the free program, however, there were some falls, so Anita took 17th place overall. But she still became the best Swede, since Algotsson failed the short program and placed outside of the top 30.
However, in PyeongChang, the 17-year-old athlete performed unsuccessfully, getting only the 28th result in the short program and, as a result, not getting to the free program. After South Korea, Ostlund tried to improve her results at the World Championships, but in Milan she took a modest 29th place.
For the debutant of senior competitions, this should not have been a disaster, but unexpectedly for everyone, the European Championships 2019 became the last major competitions for the girl. After that, she just disappeared.
What happened to her, Anita decided to tell only a few years later.
“My three sisters and I were both physically and psychologically abused by our mother throughout our upbringing,” she told Swedish television.
Anita was born in Odesa to Julia and Peter Ostlund; she is the eldest child in the family. In the documentary, she talks about her tragic experience, which led her to apply for social services and even live in a special shelter.
“Living in such conditions becomes the norm. There were good people around me. First of all, my coaches, who supported me for several years. They saw that something was wrong. They helped me tremendously,” she says.
The young athlete admits that the ice rink has become her main salvation in a difficult period of her life.
“Because it was hard for me at home, the skating rink became a refuge for me and a place where I could disconnect from everything that was hard. It meant a lot.”
Now Anita is only 22 years old, but she has already managed to radically change her life. Last summer, her mother was handed a suspended sentence in several cases of assault and molestation. However, the process is still fresh in the girl’s memory, so she does not want to talk about it in detail.
Ostlund has moved to Stockholm and is studying psychology as she tries to recover from what she went through.
“I took a break from competitive figure skating to focus on my wellness and my education. I didn’t say I was leaving, but let’s see how I feel. Now I focus on my well-being and work on myself,” says the Swede.
It is almost impossible to believe that she will return to the ice. Well, Ostlund seems to no longer need this. Figure skating was for her a way to escape from reality and not a matter of a lifetime. Although many had high hopes for her.
Ok, “impossible to believe that she will return”? How about let her decide instead of making such judgment?
This story puts things in perspective. Good to hear she had other adults who helped her out. All the best, Anita!