Three words to describe your character: Never give up!
Hidden talents: Elite floorball player. As team captain of the Espoon Oilers, won bronze in the Finnish floorball championship.

The people of Thomas Johanson’s home country of Finland are not exactly spoiled when it comes to Olympic gold, particularly from the Summer Olympics. Finland won its most recent gold medal in Sydney in 2000, when Thomas won the 49ers. Of course, he earned some attention at home, but there were no uncontrolled cheers of delight: that is not really the Finnish way.

“I got a bit of recognition, but there wasn’t much more than that,” he says. “Finns are a calm and quiet people, and it is a peaceful country. I can still go out and have a beer in peace and quiet.”

It was Thomas’ grandmother who awoke his interest in sailing 20 years previously by sending the then 11-year-old to an Optimist Dinghy camp. She wanted her grandson to go to summer camp and meet friends his own age.

“I liked the competition part the best,” Thomas says. “As a dinghy sailor, you are on your own in the boat and you can tell straight away if you’re doing well or not.”

Thomas did most things well. Even though he spent a lot of time playing ice hockey and floorball, competitive sailing was always the most important to him. At 21, he won the European championship in Laser sailing, and from then on it was Lasers all the way to the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, where he came eighth.

“I was so disappointed by my place in Atlanta,” he says. “I had gold from both the World and European Championships in Lasers, and then I only came eighth at the Olympics. My expectations were much higher than that.”

Back home, Thomas changed to sailing Star Class. But this phase came to a swift end when Star Class was dropped from the Olympic Games in the autumn of 1996.

“We heard about 49ers, which were to become a new Olympic class, and in November 1996, I was part of a group of Finnish sailors who traveled to the boat fair in Stockholm to check out the new boat,” Thomas says.

In the end, six Finnish teams decided to devote themselves to 49ers. All were good sailors so the competition was tough. It was only at the final Olympic qualifiers, in Mexico in 2000 (which was also the World Championships), that Thomas took the bronze medal and qualified for the Olympics.

“I have always tried to peak in time for the big competitions, and that really worked for the Olympics in Sydney. We were fourth after the first day and then we climbed steadily to the top. On the second-last day, there were four races, and we came third, second, first and second. That was the decider: we were the gold medalists even though there was a day left to go.”

After the Athens Olympics in 2004, Thomas left inshore fleet racing and has since mostly sailed larger boats. His education in engineering and marketing has helped in this respect: it is important to be able to promote yourself well in the chase for sponsors.

After a couple of seasons onboard a 60-foot trimaran, it is now time for Thomas’ first round-the-world race.

“I had been thinking about sailing around the world for about six or seven years. And when I got an offer from the Ericsson Racing Team, it was hard to say no. We have a good project, a good team, two boats – and most of all there are people in the Ericsson Racing Team who I appreciate and would love to work with.”

Thomas is not worried about climbing down a rung or two. In his dinghy days, he was of course making all the decisions himself. And he was skipper of the 60-foot trimaran. Now he suddenly has to follow orders.

“Well, I think I’ll probably manage,” he says. “I am also a team player from playing ice hockey and floorball. I think Anders Lewander and I have the same leadership style. Neither of us is a dictator. We both believe in giving people space and confidence.”