The Tour de Ski is underway, and for the Swedish part Frida Karlsson, among others, is in the competitions.
The 23-year-old has received a lot of criticism from the Finnish icon Jari Isometsä – because of her tactics in the races. Her response to that?
– Go yourself then, idiot, says Frida Karlsson.
The Swedish star Frida Karlsson has had a good start at the Tour de Ski. On New Year’s Eve, she finished fifth in the sprint, and the day after, it was third place in the pursuit start. With that, she now tops the Tour de Ski overall together with the Norwegian Tiril Udnes Weng and the Finnish Kerttu Niskanen.
The criticism against Frida
However, not everyone is equally impressed by Frida Karlsson’s fine efforts so far, for example the Finnish icon and former great skier Jari Isometsä.
– Frida Karlsson seems simply unable to learn. For at least three years I have followed her, and the same mistake is repeated all the time, says Isometsä on the Finnish television channel MTV, where he is now an expert.
Jari Isometsä believes that Frida Karlsson starts her races too hard and that she therefore cannot endure the entire distance.
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The Finn points to the World Cup race in Lillehammer in December, where Frida Karlsson led the race before finishing third after losing the lead towards the end of the race.
– If I were her coach, I would have a long talk about how to ride purely tactically. It feels strange that she repeats the same mistakes every time, Jari Isometsä continues.
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“Go yourself then”
However, Frida Karlsson does not buy the Finn’s reasoning at all, and hits back adamantly at the criticism.
– I know that I do my best races when I open hard – and when I have a good day, I can maintain that speed all the way. I always go for it. Maybe it’s my attitude, she tells Expressen.
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Karlsson believes that the key to her success is just opening the races strong and going out hard.
– I don’t know if I would have reached those high peaks if I hadn’t dared to bet from the start. Sometimes I might have profited by riding differently, but not on my best days.
Karlsson then sends a final greeting to Jari Isometsä – where she does not hold back.
– Go yourself then, idiot, says Frida Karlsson.
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