Woah, slow down here. MMA still mostly interests males and those under 40, but the fans are extremely rabid and loud. If you used sportbladet, twitter, flashback and such parameters they will probably lead you to believe that Gustafsson is one of Sweden's most recognized athletes already. But those places attract said age groups and gender, where Gustafsson reigns supreme. For the better part of the rest, he's not yet a household name. His fights have limited availability and they're on obscure times. That slims his presence down effectively. Case in point: Idrottsgalan.
But it's true that Lidström isn't the most famous hockey player we ever had, certainly not the measuring stick anyway. 2006 Olympics etched him into the Swedish hearts though. Henrik Lundqvist is far more recognizable and exposed in media however, for one.
The best question to ask yourself is probably, does my not-as-sports-interested mother know who Zlatan is? Hell yes. Charlotte Kalla is? Yes. Henrik Lundqvist? Yes. Nick Lidström is? Probably. Alex Gustafsson is? Probably not. That's what 'presence' is about.
I can tell you this much my mom would only know who Zlatan is with this people you just brought up.
But like i said... i bet there is only two swedish hockeyplayers that is abov him now, and that is Peter Forsberg and Mats Sundin and just maybe Henrik Lundqvist.
I think you overrate Idrottsgalan tbh when people like Malin Bayard is nominated.
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