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A discus thrower at the Olympics, born and raised in Orem is competing for Sweden, not the U.S.
Niklas Arrhenius went to Mountain View High School and BYU, but it was his father's native country of Sweden that asked him to represent it in the Beijing Olympics.
Arrhenius grew up in a Swedish/American household. His father is from Sweden, and in the 70s represented Sweden in the Olympics too.
"After I went on my mission there and lived there a few years and came back and realized I had a chance to compete for either team, and I decided it would be fun to compete for Sweden in track and field," he said.
Arrhenius has been breaking records with the discus since he was a teenager. He set a national high school record at Mountain View and won a NCAA championship at BYU.
Since he started throwing when he was 11 years old, he's always wanted to compete in the Olympics and can't believe he is there.
"It's amazing, it's a goal I've always had my whole life. It's hard to describe. I'm finally here and I don't think I will realize it until I am in the stadium thinking 'O.K, I'm at the Olympics now,'" he said.
The discus weighs 4.4 pounds. The goal is to throw it as far as you can. Arrhenius can get it about 210 feet, but to win a medal he'll need to get as far as 230 feet.
Niklas competes Saturday in the Birds' Nest. His goal is to advance to the next round.
E-mail: abutterfield@ksl.com
