PHOTO: Bildbyrån
She was forced to take a break after the tough times.
Now the Norwegian superstar reveals what really happened.
– It was really serious, says Tiril Eckhoff to TV2.
Before last season was Tiril Eckhoff reigning world champion in the overall world cup. But the season was not at all what the Norwegian biathlon star had prepared for – instead it turned out to be much worse.
Success in the Olympics
After a leaden autumn, the turnaround came during the Winter Olympics in Beijing when Eckhoff took his first podium of the season. It then became gold, silver and bronze for the 32-year-old, who hoped that the Olympic success would be a starting point for the rest of the season.
It also turned out really well when she ended the World Cup season by winning two out of three individual competitions at home in Holmenkollen. But after the great revenge came the next setback.
The nightmare
When Eckhoff contracted the coronavirus and became so ill that she had major sleep problems.
– It started with corona and then I trained a lot, while not listening to my body. I really wanted to give something back to everyone who stood up for me. You could say I experienced a small life crisis, she says in an interview with Norwegian TV2.
This summer, the Norwegian Biathlon Union announced that Eckhoff is taking a break from all training. After that, the big star has only participated in a single national team meeting and now she opens up about the nightmare that has plagued her lately.
– I struggled with sleep for a long time. I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy. It was really serious, but I have received very good help from the medical team, she tells the TV channel and admits that there have been a lot of tears.
– When I have heard of others who had sleep problems in the past, I have thought: “But my God, how difficult can it be?”. But it’s terrible, I’ve realized that now. I think it is a mixture of corona and the fact that I have lived under great pressure in recent years. I am a person with a lot of emotions and get stressed easily.
Tiril Eckhoff has tried to solve the tough sleep problems with both meditation and yoga. Now she hopes to return to biathlon again and get in shape for the new winter season.
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