Maja Stark says she didn’t have anything to do, but really, she wanted to get the full Olympics experience.
Stark arrived in Paris two Fridays ago for the Opening Ceremony, taking part in the festivities as one of the Swedish athletes on their country’s boat. She then stayed a few nights in the Olympic Village, rooming with a boxer and a sailor.
“I was a little bit scared to stay with the boxer because it was the day before competition and she was like starving,” Stark quipped Tuesday at Le Golf National, where she’ll compete in the Olympic women’s golf competition beginning Thursday. “So, I didn’t know if I could talk to her. She’s super nice, super sweet, but I was a little bit scared.”
Stark and her compatriot, Linn Grant, are used to being around other athletes. Their high school, Filbornaskolan, is a sports-focused boarding school in Helsingborg that churns out Olympians, including men’s golfer Ludvig Åberg and about 10 total for this Olympics alone, Stark says.
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As of Tuesday evening in Paris, Sweden had won eight medals, including three gold. In golf, Sweden boasts just Henrik Stenson’s silver in 2016, the year that the sport returned to the Games for the first time in 102 years.
For Stark, she’d love to cap her lengthy Olympics stay with some sort of medal. And on a layout that was shockingly “less scary” than she thought — and decidedly more inviting than a hungry boxer — Stark is confident as she nears that first tee ball.
“Normally no one gives a damn unless you’re No. 1,” Stark said. “Here, there’s three spots that people care about what you do, and people will remember it.”
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