Maple Leafs legend Börje Salming cheers on his daughter at European Championships

Earlier this week, Sweden’s Bianca Salming made her senior major championship debut in the heptathlon at the 2022 European Championships, while her dad, Toronto Maple Leafs legend Börje Salming, was in the stands to cheer her on, despite being diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) on Aug. 10.

According to the Swedish newspaper Sportbladet, Bianca was informed by her father a day before the news came out that he had received the diagnosis.

“I wasn’t sure my dad was going to be able to travel,” Bianca told Swedish reporters. “It’s been a lot of fun to have him and my family here for support.”

Salming finished the European Championships heptathlon in stunning fashion by finishing fourth in the 800m in a personal best time of 2:11.85, with her dad and family cheering her on. She finished eighth overall, with a score of 6,185 points across the seven events.

The 2020 Olympic and 2022 world champion, Nafissatou Thiam of Belgium, won the heptathlon with a score of 6628 points.

Bianca, 23, was selected to compete for Sweden at the 2018 European Championships in Berlin, but had to drop out due to an injury in the first event, the 100m hurdles.

Börje was a defenceman for the Toronto Maple Leafs for 16 seasons, from 1973 to 1989. He played 1,148 games for two teams and recorded 787 points, the 17th highest ever by an NHL defenceman. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1996.