Henrik Gustafsson, professor of Sport Science

Henrik Gustafsson is from Årjäng, and had originally planned on becoming a skier and a Physical Education teacher. After attending Torsby Skidgymnasium (an upper-secondary school specialised in skiing), he was admitted as one of the reserves for a sports education at the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences in Stockholm.

"But then and there I realised I would rather become a coach. I worked as a coach in Mora and Ljusdal, on behalf of the Swedish Ski Association, while at the same time studying Physiology, Psychology and Specialised Physical Education. This opened my eyes to the mental side of things."

Eventually, Henrik Gustafsson applied for a doctoral studentship in Örebro, and in 2008 he publicly defended his thesis in Sport Science, titled ”Burnout in competitive and elite athletes”, which was the first thesis on this subject written in Sweden.

"Afterwards, I worked as a substitute teacher at Örebro University when I received a phone call from Stefan Wagnsson, who was teaching Sport Science at Karlstad University. He wanted me to come and visit. This visit led to a position as senior lecturer in Sport Science in Karlstad, in 2009."

The subsequent year after the move to Karlstad, Henrik Gustafsson worked with the Swedish football team Brommapojkarna (who was then in the top division, Allsvenskan) and he was even contacted by the Swedish Olympic Committee, SOC.

"I started working for SOC as a performance psychology advisor within their resource team. I still work for them, and in this way my career has two different directions, just as I always wanted. One is within academia and one is more practical."

In recent years, Henrik Gustafsson’s academic career has been focused on studies on stress, recovery and performance development, based on a foundation of Sport Psychology. His research has now led to a full professorship in Sport Science at Karlstad University, as well as a part-time position with the same title at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, since 2011.

"Recommendations based on our research have been published in both Great Britain and Australia, so I know that my research is benefiting athletes all over the world. It is a privilege to work with a varied group of people consisting of athletes, coaches, students and researchers."

Thanks to his commitments within SOC, Henrik Gustafsson will spend a lot of his time this year focusing on the Olympic Games in Tokyo, as well as also helping out Degerfors IF in Allsvenskan. In the future, his goal is to combine his work within academia and his professorship at Karlstad University, with more practical work. 

In his personal life, Henrik Gustafsson lives with his partner, and he has a daughter who plays football. When there is no pandemic, he enjoys playing music with a friend. He sings and “fakes” his way through playing harmonica and guitar – everything from The Beatles to Avicii.