They are friends and train together on a daily basis. In competitions, they are competitors who beat each other out in the fight for medals.
The last time the Swedish top teams met was in the EC in August. Then Elmer Andersson and Jacob Hölting Nilsson knocked out Olympic champions David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig in the semi-finals. It was a revenge for the WC 2025, when the result was the opposite in an all-Swedish final.
- It's 50-50 who wins when we meet each other. Those who are the best on the given day take it home, so there are special matches to play, says David Åhman.
After Åhman and Hellvig's Olympic gold in Paris 2024, a development followed that was difficult to predict. Two years later, they are not Sweden's highest-ranked team - even though they are fifth in the world rankings.
During the competition year 2025, the training partners Hölting Nilsson/Andersson started to make a fuss. The "upstickers" qualified for the main tournaments at the highest world tour level. Then people began to sense that the Swedish success in sports was not just about one team.
After a World Cup silver, two first-place finishes and two second-place finishes in World Tour events in 2025, followed by a second place and a World Tour win in 2026, the duo became the youngest ever to top the world rankings.
Within the national team, on the other hand, the progress of the younger team is not described as a shock or surprise.
- Our results have started to gain momentum in recent years, says Jacob Hölting Nilsson. But it is a much longer process than it looks from the outside.
The coaching duo Anders Kristiansson and Rasmus Jonsson point to the unique training situation as a factor in Swedish beach volleyball's well-being.
- The players are not out in clubs training, but we are together 330 days a year. I wouldn't say that our players are greater talents than what they have in France, Brazil or the other big nations, but we believe in the training we do and that it is of a higher quality than the opponents', says Jonsson.
Andersson's and Hölting Nilsson's EC gold secured a quota place for the Olympics in 2028. Although nothing is set in stone, it looks like they will go to Los Angeles.
- It has been a dream since we started playing together. Then you have to add that it is not our place (but Sweden's), but the hope is to go to the Olympics and we have done our part in the whole thing, says Andersson.
At the same time, coaches Jonsson and Kristiansson believe that the place goes to those who have won it, as long as no injuries or dips in form come and haunt.
- To the greatest extent possible, it is Elmer and Jacob who go to the Olympics because they were the ones who won the quota place. But if one of them gets injured, we can send another team, says Jonsson and lets Kristiansson fill in:
- If they had suddenly become shitty, then they are not allowed to go either.
The hope, and the expectation, is that an election will not even be required. Hellvig and Åhman should be able to play for themselves a quota place.
- It is difficult because you have to perform for a long time. But if you look at how it has looked in recent years, David and Jonatan have not been outside the tenth place in the ranking in three years. Why wouldn't you think that they will succeed in qualifying? says Kristiansson.
24 teams will compete on the men's side in the Olympics. Five of them go to the winners of the continental championships, and after the EC the European place is already filled. The remaining quota places can be picked up during the WC, Olympic qualifiers or the Olympic ranking.
Securing one of the 14 quota places via the Olympic ranking, where points from the 12 best results in the World Tour or WC are counted, is the most likely route according to the national team players.
- Every competition is extremely important. You have to be at your best during the entire period, says Hellvig.
For team Hellvig/Åhman, the upcoming competition season is about staying healthy. Åhman has had recurring problems with his right knee, which has forced him to withdraw from competitions. At the moment, he believes that the knee feels better, even though he has not completely recovered from the injury.
- It is important that you play well all the way and not be forced to stand over competitions. Then it can become stressful, he says.
The competitions that are current in the Olympic ranking are decided between November 2026 and March 2028.
