This morning the Svenska Förbundet för Funktionell Fitness (Swe3F) was voted in as a member of the Swedish Sports Confederation (Riksidrottsförbundet or RF) during the final day of its Bi-Annual Meeting.
With Swe3F becoming a member of RF, this now means that Functional Fitness is considered a recognized sport in Sweden, and Swe3F and all its local clubs are eligible to receive funding from RF to help promote and grow the sport nationally.
Sweden becomes the 4th Nordic country to recognize functional fitness as a legitimate sport, following Norway (independent recognition through Nor3F), Finland (recognized under Finnish Weightlifting) and Denmark (recognized under Danish Gymnastics).
Sweden was one of the first National Federations to join the iF3 in 2017 and has been one of the leading National Federations since then, both in terms of development and athlete performance. Swede Camilla Salomonsson-Hellman was the first ever iF3 World Champion on the women’s side, while Team Sweden has podiumed at every Worlds from 2017 through 2021. This season they hope to take the team title, a title they have yet to win, from Nordic rivals Norway, who have been reigning Team World Champions since 2018.
Though they have been a top National Federation in the iF3 since 2017, the road to becoming a recognized sport was not an easy one. This was Sweden’s 3rd time applying for recognition by RF, a process which only occurs every 2 years. Once an application is submitted to RF, it is reviewed by the RF Board who will then either propose the applicant for membership or decline the application. Once proposed for membership, all other recognized sports will vote on whether or not to accept the proposed applicant as a member. However, the Swe3F application didn’t need a full vote but was instead accepted with acclamation by the meeting.
Swe3f President, Jenny Beckman expressed her excitement and gratitude for her team saying, “This is so important for the sport. I am incredibly proud of all the work Swe3f has done to get here. It is an amazing accomplishment.”
