PHOTO: Bildbyrån
There will most likely not be an indoor WC for Maja Åskag. The athletics talent previously fell ill with glandular fever and has now shifted focus.
– We are working slowly but surely and my new main goal now is the SM, she tells TT.
Maja Åskag ended last year’s outdoor season very strongly. At the Finnkampen at Stockholm’s stadium, she won in both the long jump and the triple jump. In three steps, she also set a new personal record – 14.27 meters – and was only two centimeters from Carolina Klüft’s Swedish record.
With wind in the sails, there was thus a clear goal for the indoor season: the WC in Glasgow on March 1–3.
But now most things indicate that this will not be the case. This after Åskag suffered from glandular fever during the intervening days.
“I couldn’t take it”
A painful experience, if you ask the 21-year-old.
– It was absolutely terrible. I was bedridden and I couldn’t do anything, says Åskag.
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She elaborates:
– There were all kinds of symptoms. I got all the symptoms you can have of glandular fever, like. So it wasn’t great fun. But I think adversity breeds success. I was ready to start competing now, but we have to postpone the competition premiere for a few weeks.
Åskag says that she now feels much better than expected and that last week she started training again.
“It’s more important”
But there will most likely not be an indoor WC for her.
– It was one of the goals for the indoor season, to get there. Now it’s a little tougher because you have to compete. First of all, it is very difficult to get there because there are so few places. And now that I’ve been sick and haven’t been able to train as much as I want, it’s even more difficult…
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Instead of focusing on the WC, Åskag is aiming for the WC this summer.
– Right now I’m focusing on getting started with training and not stressing. The outdoor season is more important. We are working slowly but surely and my new main goal now is SM. We take it one day at a time and I’m just happy that I’m feeling well again, she says.
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