Mikael Ljungberg

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Men's Wrestling
Olympic medal record
Gold	2000 Sydney	Greco-Roman -97 kg
Bronze	1996 Atlanta	Greco-Roman -100 kg

Mikael Ljungberg (June 13, 1970 – November 17, 2004) was a Swedish wrestler from Gothenburg. He competed for Örgryte IS's wrestling section.

Ljungberg was one of the most successful Swedish wrestlers ever. He won World Championship gold medals in 1993 and 1995, European Championship gold medals in 1995 and 1999, and an Olympic gold medal in 2000.

In the summer of 2004, the Complete Book of the Olympics 2004 edition wrongly reported Mikael Ljungberg had been suspended in 1994 for using doping. Ljungberg's comment was "This is very sad. You wouldn't such a book to exist. And of course, one considers the implications this may have."

On November 17, 2004, while receiving care for depression at the psychiatric ward of the Mölndal hospital outside Gothenburg, he committed suicide. His brother reported in interviews afterwards that Mikael was a sensitive person who took setbacks seriously. Also, it was reported that his life after the professional career had troubled him; his mother had died in 2002, the same year he had undergone a divorce.

Just before his death he was appointed manager of the sport section for the Swedish Wrestling Federation, an office he would have entered on January 1, 2005.