Photo: Nisse Schmidt/TT, Bildbyrån
Stina Nilsson has put her gun on the shelf and is investing in long-distance running this year.
Now Viaplay’s ski expert Anna-Karin Strömstedt says what she thinks the change of sport is due to.
– She probably didn’t reach where she had hoped, she says to Sportbibeln.
She had picked up five Olympic medals and seven World Cup medals during her many successful years as a cross-country skier. Still shocked Stina Nilsson all by switching to biathlon four years ago. After a few tougher years, the 31-year-old has now chosen another new path to walk. She has started with long races and this weekend Ski Classics starts with two races in Bad Gastein, Austria. The idea is that Stina will make her debut in the long-distance cup then.
Stina Nilsson left biathlon
Stina Nilsson’s main achievements as a biathlete were two podium places at the World Cup and four at the IBU Cup.
– The first two years were very good and I made a lot of progress and I am super proud of that. With the fact that I got a podium place in the World Cup. I value that very highly. Then there are two worse seasons when the shooting hasn’t worked, and when the skiing has worked, I still haven’t been able to be satisfied. You can be in great shape, shoot a great prone shot and then shoot yourself standing still. I was quite tired of that at the end, that I had done so well but still something was not right, she told SVT Sport in April.
READ MORE: Elvira Öberg liked that Stina Nilsson changed sports
She decided right after last season ended. Apparently it wasn’t a difficult decision either.
– No, it was very easy. But that was also the case when I closed my cross-country skiing chapter. As a person, I am one hundred percent one way or the other and when I feel ready with it, which I did after I made the decision, it has been like closing a book and opening a new one, she said then.
Anna-Karin Strömstedt’s words about Stina Nilsson
Viaplay’s length expert now also provides Anna-Karin Strömstedtformerly at SVT, his view of Stina’s career as a biathlete and why she now wants to try something new.
– I understand Stina. She seems to want new challenges all the time. Biathlon is something that is a big challenge, she tells Sportbibeln.
The fact is that Anna-Karin Strömstedt made exactly the same change that Stina made four years ago, i.e. from cross-country skiing to biathlon. After ten years as a cross-country skier, with seven seasons at the World Cup and a fourth place in the Olympics with the Swedish relay team as her main merit, she also chose to try biathlon. It turned out to be more difficult than she imagined. She believes that the same thoughts may have struck Stina Nilsson.
– I remember when I changed. I watched TV and thought, “How hard can dating be? It’s just a matter of shooting. The dots go down. It will be white”. It is very difficult and requires you to combine skiing and shooting. She gave it an honest chance and she did very well, although she probably didn’t reach where she had hoped, she says.
READ MORE: The internal struggle in the national biathlon team after Stina Nilsson left
Unexpected choice by Stina Nilsson
But is it really right that she quit biathlon right now when Mona Brorsson quit and Linn Gestblom is injured and misses the whole season? There would have been less competition for Stina as a biathlete this year.
– I thought about it when I saw who was selected for the World Cup. There are many missing from those that we have been used to out at the competitions. It is always the case that if you want to do something 100 percent, you have to be motivated for it. For Stina, for her personally, it was right, of course. But then it might have been easier for her to have an obvious place in the team. But it doesn’t help if you’re not 100 percent motivated. It is a shame that three have disappeared from the biathlon team, says Anna-Karin Strömstedt.
It will be exciting to see how Stina Nilsson does with long races. How do you think she will tackle the new challenge? Feel free to send a comment on Sportbibeln’s Facebook page.
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