08/04/2021 6:47 AM
Clarín.com
sports
Updated 08/04/2021 6:49 AM
Madelene Sagstrom
is the first leader of the women's Olympic golf tournament in Tokyo 2020. She is also the 28-year-old woman who in February 2021 dared to tell that
at 7 she had suffered sexual abuse by an adult she trusted
.
Communicating that story, she now says from Japan, has allowed her to free herself and her game.
"For me being free has meant a lot both to my game and to myself. And
accepting myself as a person has been a very important part of enjoying this life and myself
and feeling comfortable with who I am," she said. finishing his round with a 66-stroke card (5 under par) at the Kasumigaseki Country Club.
"I think talking about things, trying to make them not generalized but more common, trying to make them easier to talk about ... you can't do enough. I think what I hope is to be there for someone else by going to talk about my story.
Because I know I wish someone had done that for me,
"he added.
The Uppsala-born owner of a title on the LPGA Tour (2020 Gainbridge tournament) remarked that her message "has been very well received." "It is something for which I will always fight and be there. As an athlete or not, I want people to feel good about what they are.
When someone decides to speak, they no longer do it only for themselves, but for all people. that they can feel identified,
"he explained.
Referring to the influence his compatriot
Robert Karlsson
has had on his career, Sagstrom commented: "Robert was a very important part of my team when I turned pro, (at) 15, 16, 17, 18. He was what I was. it held everything together. I asked him for advice, what I could do to simplify and make the transition to professional easier. This is a very different life and having that knowledge of someone was very helpful to me. We are still in touch. "
Karlsson, whom she met at a Ryder Cup, was the one
who heard her story in 2016, five years after she decided to make it public
"One day, in a hotel room in Greenwood, South Carolina, I told her that I had been sexually abused. As a child. As she looked at me, with a mixture of surprise and empathy on her face, my whole world collapsed. I cried uncontrollably, "she recalled a while ago about the" greatest relief "moment of her life.
"Robert understood the pain he had been enduring for so many years. On the golf course, we experienced many of the same thoughts. He knew where he came from as a player, so I felt really free talking to him.
He was my ally.
He he was someone I could trust 100% and give me the advice and support I needed, "he confessed.
Robert Karlsson with Tiger Woods in 2008. AFP Photo
That moment was the key so that in 2016 he
won three Symetra Tour tournaments
(Chico's Patty Berg Memorial, Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Classic and Murphy USA El Dorado Shootout) and achieved the LPGA Tour card, where in January 2020 he debuted with the title at the Gainbridge LPGA in Boca Rio. "
I didn't feel like I was hiding
anymore.
I felt like I
could do whatever I wanted. I felt like it would be okay," he recalled.
Golf, your savior
Madelene Sagstrom told Robert Karlsson her story five years before going public.
Photo REUTERS / Murad Sezer
Madelene was only 7 years old when an adult sexually abused her.
And for 16 years she believed that the best option was to keep her story a secret
, even as an adult she understood that it was not her fault. "He hurt me both mentally and physically.
That day he tormented me
. I had nightmares about it and did everything I could to escape," he said in an interview with the LPGA site.
During those almost two decades of so much pain, the Swede immersed herself in golf, her "savior."
"I got lost in the game. And when I played, I was fine. Outside I just didn't like who I was. I felt insecure,
I never thought I was worthy enough or good enough," she
compared. "I didn't like who I saw in the mirror. I couldn't even put body lotion on my legs because of how much I hated my body, I hated myself, because of everything someone else did to me. "
"I just want to be there for somebody else knowing that I have a platform. I can share my story and maybe reach out to somebody." @ Msagstrom |
#DriveOn pic.twitter.com/UzJxrXuc7p
- LPGA (@LPGA) February 22, 2021
Before opening up to Robert Karlsson, Sagstrom said one of the hardest moments was telling her parents. "I knew it would be overwhelming and emotional, so I
wrote a script and made a voice recording
. As I listened, I realized that this is the worst thing parents can hear from their children. I can't do anything worse to them. very bad. But telling them brought us closer. I feel much more open with them and much more comfortable telling them how I feel, "he analyzed.
"Finding my voice and courage to share my experience has taken time. Survival is an ongoing process. As a professional athlete, I have the visibility to make a difference and connect with others who may have experienced sexual abuse.
If I touch a life telling my history, it will all be worth it
", he valued.
His leadership in Tokyo 2020
Madelene Sagstrom is 75th in the LPGA ranking.
Photo REUTERS / Toby Melville
Madelene Sagstrom delivered
a 66-stroke card (5 under par)
this Wednesday
to place herself alone in the lead in the women's golf tournament of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, with a margin impact on the duo formed by the world number one, the American Nelly Korda, and Indian Aditi Ashok.
Sagstrom signed a card with
five birdies
- four of them in the first nine holes of his round - and without any failure to take the lead on the east course of the Kasumigaseki Country Club, the scene of the tournament that will run until Saturday.
Nelly Korda, world number one,
also made five birdies, but two bogeys on holes 2 and 4 blurred her round.
Shares second place with Aditi Ashok.
Two strokes behind Sagstrom is the trio formed by the Spanish Carlota Ciganda, the Finnish Matilda Castren and the number 2 in the women's world ranking, the South Korean Ko Jin Young.
All three with 68 hits (-3).
The defender of the title achieved five years ago in Rio de Janeiro, the also South Korean
Park Imbee
, started with a lap of 69 (-2), and shares the seventh place with seven other players, among which is the fourth in the world, her compatriot Kim Sei Young, and Spanish Azahara Muñoz.
After a day of intense heat, the 60 players have been warned by officials that the tournament could be reduced to 54 holes due to a forecast of the tropical weather system that will pass over the Kasumigaseki Country Club at the weekend.
"We will not change the schedule tomorrow. We will play 18 holes as scheduled on Thursday and another 18 holes on Friday. Then we will continue to track this tropical system and see what Saturday brings," said Heather Daly-Donofrio, tournament technical delegate and director. of touring operations of the LPGA.
