PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Charlotta Kalla is one of Swedish skiing’s greatest.
Now she opens up about the problems with the new generation.
– I realized early on that it would be a big challenge for the leaders, she admits to DN.
Three Olympic golds, three WC golds and a whopping 22 championship medals do Charlotte Kalla to the pride of Swedish skiing in the 2000s. She had an absolutely fantastic skiing career that ended in the spring of 2022.
Call about the problems
Since then, she has become a mother for the first time in her life and is now very current with her very first book, the autobiography “Skam den som ger sig”. Kalla has been generous with what she thinks and thinks about Swedish skiing lately.
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Now she opens up again and admits the problems with the new generation in the national skiing team. Kalla was the veteran in the national team when young stars like Ebba Andersson, Frida Karlsson and Lynn Svahn broke through and quickly took over the limelight.
About Frida and Linn
They took it upon themselves at a young age and made early demands on the national team management, which then led to Frida, Linn and Maja Dahlqvist left the national ski team last season.
– I realized early on that it would be a big challenge for the leaders to get all the wills together and satisfy everyone’s wishes, says Charlotte Kalla to Dagens Nyheter about the young skiers.
– That way it was probably easier with my generation.
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Kalla describes Linn Svahn, who is twelve years younger, as a “rebel” in her book. Now she further develops her thoughts about the new, younger generation of national team skaters.
– For me, it was important to fit in and belong to the community. It included being a bit malleable and feeling secure in the existing template. As I experience it, the younger generation does not have that need. They understand that it is up to them to make their dreams come true, and that it requires certain things to fall into place, says Charlotte in the interview.
READ MORE: The national skiing team acts after the huge criticism – now boycotts the Sports Gala in pure disappointment: “We are upset”
Just like Kalla
For this season, Svahn, Karlsson and Dahlqvist are back in the national team again. But their controversial decision to train on their own was not exactly the first time in Swedish skiing, so did Kalla during his career.
From 2016-2018, she was outside the Swedish national skiing team and can reflect on it today.
– Yes, in that I left the national team, because I wanted to bring my personal trainer and the training did not suit me, I have contributed to the fact that the national team is not the only way, says Kalla.
– At the same time, the national team must naturally be where you want to spend your training year. It must be so attractive – with everything from the camp locations and the training plan to leaders and resource persons – that it is where you want to be.
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