Photo: Bildbyrån
Frida Karlsson and Maja Dahlqvist leave the national ski team.
It is also noticed in Norway – where a sharp warning is issued.
– This presupposes that they get an equally good sporting setup, says the expert Petter Skinstad.
The news hit like a bomb on Monday. Frida Karlsson and Maja Dahlqvist – Sweden’s perhaps two biggest length stars – are leaving the national team for an initiative under their own auspices for next season.
The warning to the duo
The decision is based primarily on the duo thinking that too many days are spent in various camps, and Frida Karlsson believes that she “loses her common thread” by abandoning her routines and her own thoughts on training. In the past, Linn Svahn has also chosen to drop out of the national team, and the decisions have received a great deal of attention in Norway as well.
The Norwegian expert Petter Skinstad believes that Frida Karlsson and Maja Dahlqvist can lose by leaving the national team, and is now raising the warning finger.
– It presupposes that they get a sporting approach on site that allows them to train as well as they did in the national team. Maja Dahlqvist will not get a sprint match in Frida Karlsson. Frida Karlsson does not get a distance match in Maja Dahlqvist, says the TV2 expert.
“Need to review the model”
At the same time, Skinstad believes that the Swedish national ski team needs to review its activities.
– The Swedish Ski Association – and probably also the Norwegian national ski team – simply need to review their model, the number of athletes and how to combine the sporting investment and financial compensation to retain the best skiers, he says.
At the same time, he says he was surprised by the decision.
– I must say that I was very surprised, but at the same time it is an expected development, where many now choose to do just as Petter Northug did during his career, but also as Charlotte Kalla has done after all.
READ MORE: The SVT expert’s sharp criticism – after Frida Karlsson and Maja Dahlqvist’s shock departure from the national team: “Is bad”