The Swedish skier’s preparation for the prestigious competition years ahead meant a shock decision for the boys. However, discussions with the coach led to a compromise.
Swedish Frida Karlsson was close to the shock decision to skip the 2023–2024 competition season entirely. The 23-year-old skiing star considered the Swede Expressen’s added that they will only invest in training, because after the coming season, they will have three consecutive years of competition ahead of them.
Karlsson justified his thoughts by saying that he feels that his development stops when we move from the training season to the competition season.
– What if I had just trained the whole season?
Karlsson’s head was finally turned by his coach Per Nilsson.
Karlsson talked with his coach and the decision was finally made between the competition season and the training season: The skier will participate in the World Cup and the Tour de Skille. Karlsson is satisfied with the solution he and Nilsson found, and his goal is to improve thanks to the lighter competition calendar.
– I would have definitely collapsed mentally. In practice, I would have just stayed at home and cried, Karlsson thought about possibly giving up the competition season.
Karlsson said For the Swedish public broadcasting company SVT also his views on the fainting spell at the final stage of the Tour de Ski that talked the skiing world last winter.
Karlsson, who is known to take everything out of his body in competitions, described the events as physical stress that culminated on the last day of the competition.
– It felt like panic taking over the whole body. At first I couldn’t feel my legs and eventually the lack of oxygen reached the brain.
However, Karlsson feels that this kind of extreme crossing in sports is not dangerous. He sees that with its help, endurance athletes can reach their goals at the top.
Immediately after the tour, however, Karlsson fell seriously ill.
– When you’ve given everything, the body seems to press the handbrake. Before that, the body performs under the guidance of the subconscious.