After two tough seasons in the biathlon national team, Stina Nilsson chooses to stop her venture. The time as a biathlete is now a closed chapter.
Stina Nilsson tells SVT Sport that she will start a new venture.
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– I’m going to go long-distance running next year, which feels great.
Stina Nilsson has signed a two-year contract with the Norwegian big team Team Ragde Charge, which is owned by the long-distance legends Jörgen and Anders Aukland. She will be part of their team in the Ski Classics.
– Even when I switched to biathlon, I saw myself as almost a three-stage rocket. It will be cross-country skiing, biathlon and then I will try long-distance running. And now it feels very right and exciting!
Four seasons as a biathlete
The career change sums up four seasons as a biathlete with two podiums in the World Cup and four in the IBU Cup among the main results.
– 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, that I got there.
– 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.
Was it a difficult decision to close the biathlon?
– No, it was very easy. But that was also the case when I closed my cross-country skiing chapter. As a person, I am 100% one way or the other and when I feel done with it, which I did after I made the decision, it has been like closing a book and opening a new one.
Are the results of the last two years the basis for your decision?
– No I do not think so. I think there is a timing for everything and now the timing came very timely.