Swedish climber Matilda Soderlund on competition, mental health and a Hong Kong high point
- Swedish climber Matilda Soderlund talks about honing her competitive spirit as an infant, finding her life’s passion and getting engaged atop Kowloon Peak
My dad is a doctor and my mum is a physiotherapist and they met at a hospital in Stockholm (the capital of Sweden). They moved back to my father’s hometown of Saltsjöbaden, a seaside town just outside Stockholm, when I was born. It is a well-off area and a comfortable and protected environment to grow up in.
I was born in 1992 and my sister came along three years later. My mum and a couple of other mums got together and decided not to put their young kids in day care and instead look after them.
From the age of three, I hung out with the other kids and we went into the forest. We used to compete for everything – who could run the fastest, who would get the biggest piece of cake.
When we were six, we went to school together and brought that competitive spirit with us. It seemed normal that everything was a competition, whether it was school grades or who had the nicest clothes.
Climb to the top
Our neighbour coached the youth athletics team. He’d seen me running down the street and when I was six suggested that I join the club. I loved to move and had a lot of energy, so doing something physical was a good way to channel that energy.
