The 23rd European Athletics Junior Championships take place in Eskilstuna from 16-19 July and it could be quite an occasion for one teenage star.
It is the first time Sweden has hosted the event and in Irene Ekelund, they have a clear gold medal favourite.
It’s really fun that Sweden is hosting a major championship like the European Athletics Junior Championships. This time, I can take the train from my hometown Karlstad to the event in Eskilstuna.
Winning gold in a home championship is always something special for any athlete, except Ekelund wants more. The 18-year-old would like to win in such a style that she is chasing European junior records over 100m and 200m that have lasted for decades.
'I hope that I will do well in Eskilstuna and run so fast that I have a chance to challenge the European record for juniors on either distances,' she said.
Ekelund has already shown that she has a talent to makes her stand out from the others.
In 2013, when she won the 200m at the IAAF World Youth Championships in Donetsk in a national junior record of 22.92, she became the first Swedish athlete to take gold in a sprint event at an international championship. Now that is some landmark.
It does not stop there.
She also holds outdoor national junior records for the 100m (11.35) and 60m indoors (7.26) and her time of 23.15 from Norrkoping in 2013 is a national indoor 200m record, never mind an age group one.
Now she cannot wait for the chance to put on that Swedish vest at the Ekí¤ngen Stadium where she is chasing even more success.
“It’s always such a special feeling to wear my national uniform and I’m sure it will give me even more motivation during the championships.”
Ekelund, who won silver over 200m at last summer’s IAAF World Junior Championships in Oregon, is thinking ahead too and she added: 'I want to become as good as I can, reach the Olympics and do well there. I don’t know which of the distances to focus on, but right now, the 200m is my best.'