PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Stina Nilsson has had a tough start to the season.
The Swede has been kicked out of the World Cup and had to endure harsh criticism.
Now the boyfriend Emil Nykvist vents his great dissatisfaction and defends Stina.
They are the national biathlon team’s newest love couple and live together in Östersund. The national team colleagues Stina Nilsson and Emil Nykvist have found love in each other on the side of the ski slopes.
Nilsson’s season
Both have had to fight to reach the World Cup in recent years and on social media you can follow their new project to build their own mobile home. They both train together and support each other through the tough everyday life as elite-level biathletes.
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Nilsson has had a very tough start to the season and after several weak results, she was recently kicked from the World Cup and is now allowed to compete in the IBU Cup. Despite the setbacks, she still does not regret her choice to switch from a successful career as a cross-country skier to a completely new sport.
– As a person, I feel good about throwing myself into things that feel a little shaky. The memories I create here and now I will take with me to the retirement home, she says to Norwegian NRK.
Criticism of Stina
Stina has had to endure harsh criticism after the weak efforts during the start of the season and SVT expert Björn Ferry has been one of the loudest skeptics. Now Emil Nykvist breaks his silence and goes out to defend his girlfriend against all criticism.
– It is difficult to perform when you are always under pressure. We don’t read everything that is written, but still have to stand there and answer the questions, he says in an interview with the Värmland newspaper NWT.
– I think it’s a shame that people don’t understand what level we hold. Those who sit at home and think about it have no idea what we do in reality.
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Nykvist recently made a comeback at the World Cup after having to struggle in the IBU Cup himself for a long time. He knows exactly what Stina Nilsson is going through and is now fighting back against the storm of criticism and all sofa experts.
– I run the mile in 40 minutes as a warm-up before I go to the gym and do strength training. And so people think you ski slowly. They themselves wouldn’t even manage the 40 miles if they put on a number plate and tried everything they could, says Emil to the local newspaper.
– If people understood the level we hold, I think they would stop criticizing as much as they actually do.
READ MORE: The new news: Stina Nilsson is poked again in the World Cup – cannot return after the weekend’s disappointment
Emil Nykvist also criticizes Swedish experts and says a couple of well-chosen words.
– Quite a lot has happened in the last ten years in terms of the level. Then you could be a bad exerciser and be in the top ten, and work on the side. Now it doesn’t work, because everyone who goes to the World Cup is full-time active, who maintains a completely different level than just a few years ago, he says in the interview.
What do you think of Stina Nilsson’s season so far? Share the article and have your say!
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