PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Stina Nilsson has left biathlon behind.
She began her new long-distance venture with a dream start.
Now Stina appeals to all Swedes after the harsh words against her.
It has indeed been an interesting skiing career for Stina Nilsson. The 31-year-old has been through most of it after first starting out as a cross-country skier and becoming one of the world’s best at it, then a biathlon venture that was not a success at all and now a new sport awaits in the form of long-distance running.
Criticism of Stina
After four tough years as a biathlete where development did not go straight up at all, Nilsson had to receive a lot of criticism. Many Swedes, TV experts and competitors could not understand why she struggled so much with the shooting and above all the skiing which was so slow.
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Harsh words were directed at her and this spring she had enough. Stina left biathlon behind and is now entering a new season of long-distance running.
Nilsson’s success
This weekend, the Swedish ski star debuted with his very first 90-kilometer race on roller skis and it was a real dream start. Nilsson took home the Klarälvsloppet after a very impressive finish and broke the dominance Emilie Fleten.
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Now the expectations for Stina have been raised and then she wants to appeal to all Swedes with open-hearted words about the coming winter.
– My expectations of myself are that I will do a good job and come well prepared. That I should be able to join and fight. But you have to be a little patient with me and hold back a little on what you expect, because I actually don’t know myself what to expect from me, says Stina in an interview with langd.se.
– I still haven’t had a single training session with other girls and I don’t know where I stand compared to the others or what level I will meet in the winter.
“It drives me”
She still has a lot to learn about the new sport in order to adapt her skiing in the best way.
– In the long run, I hope to become a tactically good skater in the long races as well. But it took some time to train up my sprint tactics. I was forced to get to know myself, my strengths and weaknesses. And I learned quite a bit about what the competition used to do. Now long races will be a “new language” for me and I have to learn what are smart tactics in Ski Classics. And by that I mean what is smart tactically for me. Because it doesn’t matter if it’s an optimal tactic if it doesn’t suit me and my strengths, she says in the interview.
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Alongside all the negative criticism, many Swedes have also praised Stina Nilsson for her great courage and for daring to take on a completely new challenge. For many young skiers, she has become a role model for daring to go their own way.
– For me, these choices have been given. I would have regretted it if I hadn’t tried what I wanted. What drives me in sports is to create memories for myself that I can be proud of when I have put my sports career behind me. If it’s something that can motivate and trigger others to try something new, I think you should definitely take the chance, she says to the ski site.
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