I’ve been following Sarah Sjöström’s career closely and I’m genuinely puzzled by the lack of recognition she gets on the global stage. She has the most individual medals at World Championships and the longest timespan between setting her first and most recent world records (2009 to 2023). At 30 years old, she’s still the fastest woman in the world in multiple sprint events.
Sjostrom is renowned for being quiet and modest. Although this is commendable, it could be in contrast to certain other prominent players’ more gregarious personalities and result in less media attention.
I’ve followed Sarah Sjöström’s career for years and share your confusion about her relative lack of global recognition. Her achievements are truly remarkable—most individual medals at World Championships and a record span from 2009 to 2023 highlight her exceptional consistency and longevity in the sport. At 30, she remains the fastest woman in various sprint events, which is an incredible testament to her skill and dedication. Despite her impressive track record, it seems that the spotlight often shifts to other athletes or events, which might explain why she doesn’t always get the recognition she deserves. It’s frustrating to see such a talented athlete not receive the full acclaim she’s earned.
I can’t speak for all countries, but US media places a heavy focus on US athletes, with exceptions made for when a non-American athlete has a running rivalry with an American athlete, and Australian swimmers tend to get a little more attention because of the US Australia team rivalry. It doesn’t really try to portray itself as equal international coverage, it is knowingly US centric coverage for US audiences.
Every now and then someone will be such a super star (winning 3+ individual golds or running away with world records) such as Leon Marchand or Usain Bolt that they start getting followed by US media. Sarah is kind of floating just below that level, especially when you look at it exclusively through the perspective of Olympic games, because US audiences by and large don’t pay attention to world championships, which is where a lot of Sarah’s most impressive meets have been.Sarah is kind of hovering just below that level, especially when you only consider the Olympic games, as most US fans don’t follow world championships, which is where many of Sarah’s most memorable meets have taken place.