Frida Karlsson collapsed immediately after the finish during the Tour de Ski.
Now she reveals her very first words after she woke up with an oxygen mask over her face.
No Swede had won the Tour de Ski since Charlotte Kalla did it in 2008. Many had been close, but we had to wait until 2023, when Frida Karlsson crossed the finish line up the monster hill Alpe de Cermis fast enough.
The scary collapse
But afterwards, most of it was about something completely different. Karlsson pushed herself so hard that she collapsed immediately after finishing. There were nasty pictures that unfolded on a completely exhausted star Swede, and it took hours before she met the media, and had to receive her long-awaited trophy.
Frida Karlsson does not remember much from what happened there and then. She says that she started to feel that her body was giving up with just over 100 meters to go.
– I heard that Stefan (Thomson, women’s coach) shouted at me: “Frida, answer now!”. I heard him, but I couldn’t answer, says Karlsson to Finnish Iltalehti.
After a quarter of a doctor’s check-up, Frida Karlsson was carried out on a stretcher.
READ MORE: Sweden’s clear dream during the Skiing World Cup revealed – now going hard for Norway: “We can absolutely do it!”
Reveals the first words
The next thing Frida Karlsson remembers is waking up with an oxygen mask over her face. Now, months after the incident, she reveals her very first words after waking up.
– When I woke up, I turned directly to Stefan and asked if I had won the Tour, she says.
The coach gave the thumbs up, and after that there was a real increase in energy level for Frida Karlsson.
The star, who started the WC with silver in the skiathlon, just beaten by Ebba Andersson, still has not seen any pictures from the Tour de Ski finish.
– I was a little scared after that, even though I felt good and healthy, she says, and continues:
– I haven’t looked at it, and I won’t either.
READ MORE: Charlotte Kalla’s huge tribute to Jonna Sundling – after the new, Swedish super record: “Absolutely crazy!”