Strength of Ståhl: Ovako's newest partner, Olympian Daniel Ståhl
Swedish-Finnish heritage, strength built over time, precision in every detail, and the determination to keep improving. These are the qualities that define both Ovako and Daniel Ståhl: world discus champion, Olympic gold medalist, and the larger-than-life personality who now represents Nordic Steel on the world stage. Here are some thoughts from the man himself:
“Strength is all about discipline. If you have a weak spot, whether that’s a muscle, a skill, or anything else, you have built it up and stabilize it over months or years, to break through. I've been lifting a ton of weights three to four times a week for 15 years. Between two consecutive sessions, it’s almost impossible to see the improvement — but that’s because they are small steps in a much longer journey. Real strength is being able to carry on working at it over and over again. If you look at the big picture, you will see how much your focus has paid off.”
You've described yourself as having 'swisu'. What is that, and how does that show up when you compete?
"I have ‘sisu’ when I compete. That’s the Finnish part of me. You could call it ‘guts’ — the drive to go wild and enjoy every moment without complaining, no matter how tough. And then I have this boring, methodical Swedish tendency to plan: organize my team, talk together, strategize.
“So ‘swisu’ is the Finnish willpower combined with the Swedish structure. It works in sport, but you don’t need to be an athlete to have swisu. Some days you are tired and unmotivated, but you still lay out what you need to do, get into the right headspace, and buckle down anyway.”
In a stadium of 50,000 people, with everything on the line, how do you shut out the noise?
“I go into my soul and myself. It's only me and the discus. And I think that the crowd cheering gives you a boost, it's fuel. When I was younger I got shaky. But after a couple of years it's like business: you get nervous when you stand up to present or explain the numbers, but it takes experience to ignore that feeling and stay true to what you know.
“In the stadium I trust myself, and in the moment, I shut everything else out. Only after I release the discus do I hear the crowd scream. It’s an amazing feeling.”
You're famous for not focusing on your competitors. Isn't that a risk?
“Because then you focus on the wrong things. The media always asks: 'Are you going to beat this guy today?' I could say that, but it gives me pressure. So instead, I focus on conversion rates. Ten years ago my accuracy in the first three rounds of competition was 20 to 30 percent. That's really bad. So my team and I had to fix exactly that. We trained in Sweden specifically on the first three throws, without warm-ups, hitting 65 meters every time. It took two years. Then the percentage went up to 80 percent, and right on cue, the first gold medal came, in Doha, 2019.”
“I think the lesson translates directly to business. If you see things are bad right now, you need to analyze exactly what went wrong in order to make the improvements needed. That’s often worth more than rushing to keep up with your competitors.”
With five major championship gold medals already, what still drives you to improve?
“The big goal is the Olympics in Los Angeles, 2028. And I believe I can still break the Swedish record — I still tease those younger guys that ‘Ståhl is always ready’. It's about the small stuff: sleep well is one percent, eat well is one percent, psychology, the team around you, the massage at the right time. All of those small percentages, done with quality every single day.”
“And if things go wrong along the way? My rule is that you can be mad about a mistake for 60 seconds. Then I take the report, look at it quickly, throw it in the garbage, and take the next one. The sun will come up the day after anyway, so we move on.”
Follow the journey
Over the next three years, we'll follow Daniel's journey toward Los Angeles 2028, share stories of performance and innovation, and show what it truly means to push limits — whether in the discus circle or in the steel mill. Different arenas. Different walks of life. Same swisu. Daniel Ståhl together with Ovako sales team |
