Veronica Wagner to cover the London 2012 Olympic Games for local Swedish television channel
Swedish Olympian Veronica Wagner has just been chosen to cover the London 2012 Olympics for local television. The news was thoroughly welcomed by the injured gymnast.
When Wagner incurred a shoulder injury she suspected her recovery will not be completed in time for the Olympics.
The accident and its repercussions caused tear-stained dismay to the athlete who had competed in the 2004 Olympics Games in Athens and qualified in the previous Olympic Games in Beijing.
Her training has been at a halt since last spring, and the athlete was unable to contest in the qualifiers this October (the World Artistic Gymnastics Chmapionships in Tokyo), where Wagner was supposed to perform on the uneven bars.
Wagner is an epitome of team spirit and patriotism as she is upbeat for her fellow gymnast Jonna Adlerteg, who was the highest all-round Swedish scorer in the Tokyo World Championships.
However, Adlerteg did not make it in the top eight and is scheduled to compete at the London test event for the Olympic berth.
How did Wagner cope with the disappointment of not being able to compete in Tokyo? The answer was simple for the 24-year-old who just forayed into a variety of things which were related to gymnastics but did not require her to exert excessively on her injured
shoulder.
In the fall of this year, she appeared on a television show “Superstars” which features sports celebrities. Along with her on the show was the three-time Olympic medallist, Patrick Sjoberg.
The gymnast recalls the experience fondly, "I had a blast during it, even if it was kind of hard. I'm small! After that I didn't know what to do with my gymnastics since my goal, the 2012 London Olympics, was gone. So now I'm taking it really slow".
Of late, the gymnast turned her attention to a radio show. Co-anchors of the show are Anton Hysen (soccer player) and Stefan Holm (2004 Olympic champion on high jump).
The format of the weekly shows is based on varying themes that are connected to the field of sports. The hosts of the show put up enjoyable discussions underlined with laughter and humour.
Wagner’s time is also spent as a swimming coach at her Stockholm gym, where she takes a class three times every week. As a coach, her focus is on building strength, instilling hard work and teaching some easy acrobatics.
The phone call from the Swedish channel regarding commentatorship has Wagner all excited.
“That couldn't be any better for me, since I want to watch it (the Olympic games) all. I'm so honored and happy beyond words, because that's at least a little bit of payment even though (not qualifying) will hurt me for life," she enthused.
Once her gig as the commentator for London 2012 Olympic Games is over, Wagner plans to help out her gymnastics team at the European championships. A highly enunciated “maybe” was followed by the disclosure of a comeback in World Cups.
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