A riksidrottsgymnasium (RIG; ) is part of the Swedish school system as a
gymnasium accepting pupils from the whole country focussing on specific sports. Schools shall organise school, living and sports specialisation for the pupils enrolled..
Riksidrottsgymnasium organisers have to be accepted by the national governing body of the sport and the
National Agency for Education.
For the pupils, approximately 30 percent of the gymnasieskola credits are spent on the sport.
[ As of 2025, 26 federations have the possibility to organise riksidrottsgymnisia.
]
History
The first riksidrottsgymnasium started on try in 1972 in Malmö
Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...
and Järpen
Järpen () is a locality and the seat of Åre Municipality in Jämtland County, Sweden with 1,408 inhabitants in 2010.
Järpen is located at an altitude of 324m/1,063 ft above sea level, on the river Indalsälven
Indalsälven is one of Swed ...
. In the beginning, the places were limited, but in 1994 other schools had the possibilities to offer gymnasieskola credits in sports specialisation outside the riksidrottsgymnasium system.[ The system again changed in 2011 when a parallel system, the nationell idrottsutbildning was introduced for more local intake of pupils.][
In 2019, it was highlighted a problem of who shall pay for expensive equipment – as pupils shall not pay for things in school.
In the summer of 2020, the riksidrottsgymnasium for waterskiing and wakeboarding at Brinellgymnasiet in ]Fagersta
Fagersta is a locality and the seat of Fagersta Municipality in Västmanland County, Sweden, with 11,130 inhabitants in 2010.
Geography
The city is located at the junction of two railways between Ludvika-Västerås and Avesta (Krylbo)-Örebro ...
was closed after 20 years of education after reports on dispiraties.
Impact
A 2010 study from University of Gothenburg
The University of Gothenburg () is a List of universities in Sweden, university in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg. Founded in 1891, the university is the third-oldest of the current List of universities in Sweden#Public universities, S ...
study showed that 75 percent of the pupils reached a national-team level.
According to a study from Karlstad University
Karlstad University ( Swedish ''Karlstads universitet'') is a state university in Karlstad, Sweden. It was originally established as the Karlstad campus of the University of Gothenburg in 1967, and this campus became an independent university c ...
, less than a half of Sweden's international medalists have not gone to a riksidrottsgymansium.Sweden at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Sweden competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Swedish athletes have competed at eve ...
had been to riksidrottsgymnasia.[
]
Riksidrottsgymnasia
References
{{Reflist
Sport in Sweden
Education in Sweden
1972 establishments in Sweden