The national team does not go to high altitude camps.
Wrong, thinks Jonna Sundling – who walks away with money paid out of her own pocket.
– They invest in it themselves, says coach Magnus Ingesson.
It has been a turbulent spring for the national ski team, after the big stars Frida Karlsson and Maja Dahlqvist chose to leave the national team, and instead start their own venture. Linn Svahn has already made the same decision, and there are fewer and fewer stars who still train with the national team.
Goes against the national team
But one who remains in the national team is Jonna Sundling, the world’s foremost sprinter, with both Olympic and World Cup gold in her luggage. But she also does not seem to be completely satisfied with the current approach. This year, Sweden has chosen not to camp at a high altitude during the pre-season.
It is not directly a common decision, as it has been made almost every year in recent years. But this year it is not needed, the management says.
– Now a long period without championships awaits at high altitude – and we see that we can improve quality without going at altitude. It costs a lot in both energy and money, says national team manager Anders Byström to Expressen.
“Invest in it yourself”
Byström also believes that the riders themselves wanted fewer travel days and days away from home. But not everyone seems to agree. According to Expressen, Jonna Sundling and Emma Ribom think that the decision was so wrong that they choose to go to Italy in their own camp.
– They see an opportunity to develop by being at the height. They think they get an effect from it, says coach Magnus Ingesson, who believes that the duo would have liked to have seen a different approach.
– Ideally, they would have thought it would have been good to be in Val Senales in October as usual. But this year the national team is camping in Vålådalen then instead so it is not possible
And it obviously means so much to Sundling and Ribom that the duo choose to pay for the trip themselves.
– They invest in it themselves. Possibly they can get a grant from SOK – but it is probably doubtful.
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