PHOTO: Bildbyrån
A completely new challenge awaits Stina Nilsson.
After she changed biathlon to long-distance running instead.
Now the boyfriend Emil Nykvist steps out and pays tribute to the girlfriend.
For the second time in his sports career has Stina Nilsson change sports. First it was from cross-country skiing to biathlon in 2020 and now four years later she has given up on biathlon to switch to long-distance running.
Stina’s new sport
Next season will be the very first that Nilsson competes in the Ski Classics long-distance cup, which also includes the Vasaloppet. It will be very new and one of the differences is also that she and the boyfriend Emil Nykvist stands out, having belonged to the same national team last season.
– It is clear that there will be a difference. But we have been able to train quite a lot together and see each other every day anyway, so I think it works. And she inspires a lot with what she does, says Nykvist to SVT.
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Stina Nilsson got off to a dream start to her new skiing venture in the very first race when she won the nine-mile long Klarälvsloppet in September. Nykvist was there to support and he was the first to come forward with a victory hug after the finish.
Boyfriend’s words
He was really impressed by his girlfriend’s feat in her long-distance debut.
– It was big. It was really huge, huge. You know how much it means to her and how much she has put in to get where she is, and with such success already at the first competition. It’s so damn impressive that it’s hard not to be touched by it, he tells the TV channel.
– There is a big difference to what she has done before. After all, she did sprints as a cross-country skier and then she went biathlon with a skate and shot. So there is quite a big difference compared to riding nine miles classic or nine miles stake. But that just shows what a competent skier she is, who pulls it off.
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The Klarälv race took place on roller skis and although snow and skis can be different, Emil Nykvist is looking forward to following Stina’s progress in long races. He believes she has a good chance of succeeding in the new sport.
– Very good, then we’ll see. No one knows, we haven’t seen her ride a long distance race on snow at the highest level in Ski Classics. But I think it will go well, he says in the interview.
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