PHOTO: Bildbyrån
It has now been over three years since Stina Nilsson switched cross-country skis to biathlon.
But her development is slow.
– It is a bit of an enigma, says Björn Ferry to Expressen.
The year was 2020, the month of March, when Stina Nilsson shocked the skiing world with the news that she would switch sports from cross-country skiing to biathlon. At that time, she was at the top of the world in cross-country skiing, and had an Olympic gold and two World Cup golds in her bag.
Nilsson’s biathlon career
Stina Nilsson’s first season as a biathlete was, hardly surprisingly, mediocre. She competed in the IBU Cup, but got the chance in the World Cup twice. Then she finished in 26th place in the sprint and 22nd in the pursuit start. The following season, however, was a step forward. Stina then took her first podium in the World Cup when she came third in the sprint. However, she was not selected for the Olympics.
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Last season was unfortunately a step backwards for Nilsson. Her best placing in the World Cup was a 33rd place in the pursuit start. This season has also not started anything further. Stina had a hard time in Idre during the Swedish premiere, and in the World Cup premiere she finished 84th with seven hurdles in the distance race.
– At the beginning, I had high expectations that she would be better at skiing. Will she be the best, or ten seconds slower than Öberg’s? Those were the thoughts I had. But it was much worse. She is several minutes behind in skiing. In my career, nothing like that ever happened, if I was bad, it was maybe about being half a minute behind. It doesn’t look promising for Stina, says Bjorn Ferry to Expressen.
Ferry’s criticism
It is difficult for the former biathlete to put his finger on what this could be.
– It is difficult to say, you have too little information. She’s not very open, so you don’t really know how things are. What is good and what is bad. It may be that biathlon does not suit Stina Nilsson, because it is very intense with competition and training. It’s in a different way than cross-country skiing. But on the other hand, she hasn’t competed very much. It’s a bit of an enigma, says Ferry.
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The national biathlon team’s shooting coach Jean-Marc Chabloz also takes a gloomy view of Nilsson’s development. But also think it’s about patience.
– Stina loses a lot in skiing, and it only gets worse and worse. Last season, she really only makes two bad races in terms of shooting, but that makes the overall percentage worse.
– But it’s not really that dramatic. I think she rose this year. But she is still young in the sport and it is up to her to find her own way and not become dependent on me or anyone else. And find things that are good for her, says Chabloz to the evening newspaper.
READ MORE: After a difficult time for Stina Nilsson – now she is being seen by Björn Ferry and Helena Ekholm: “Time to replace her”
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