Irene Michelle Ekelund (; born 8 March 1997) is a Swedish
track and field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...
sprint athlete who competes internationally for
Sweden. On 14 July 2013 Ekelund won the gold medal at the
World Youth Championships in
Donetsk
Donetsk ( , ; uk, Донецьк, translit=Donets'k ; russian: Донецк ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin and Stalino (see also: cities' alternative names), is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine loca ...
when she finished first in the
200 metres final. It was also the first gold medal for Sweden in a sprint event in a global championship ever.
Biography
Ekelund was born in
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
to a Swedish father and an
Angola
, national_anthem = " Angola Avante"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capital = Luanda
, religion =
, religion_year = 2020
, religion_ref =
, coordina ...
n mother during her father's
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
-service in Pakistan. The family later moved back to Sweden and settled in
Karlstad where she today lives with her mother and five siblings. She currently studies at the stylist program at her
high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
(
gymnasium) in her hometown, and competes for a club in the southern Swedish city of Malmö,
Malmö Allmänna Idrottsförening (MAI). Ekelund has several times stated that she is not very interested in athletics, and that she does not have any real idols in the sport.
Ekelund currently holds the
Swedish indoor record in 200 metres. At the Swedish National Indoor Championships in
Norrköping 2013, Ekelund won gold medals in the distances 60 metres and 200 metres. Her international debut took place in the indoor-international between Sweden, Finland and Norway in
Växjö
Växjö ( ) is a city and the seat of Växjö Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden. It had 70,489 inhabitants (2019) out of a municipal population of 95,995 (2021). It is the administrative, cultural, and industrial centre of Kronoberg County ...
,
Sweden at January 20, 2013.
Later in 2013 she also made her international championship-debut when she competed in the World Youth Championships in Donetsk, Ukraine. She won the gold medal in 200 metres and finished fifth in the 100 metres final. She became the first Swedish athlete to win an international championship in a sprint event. Thanks to her performance, she was awarded "Newcomer of the Year" at the
Swedish Sports Award.
Achievements
Personal bests
References
External links
World Athletics profile for Irene Ekelund
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ekelund, Irene
Swedish female sprinters
1997 births
Living people
Swedish expatriates in Pakistan
Swedish people of Angolan descent
Swedish Athletics Championships winners