PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Both stars Frida Karlsson and Ebba Andersson are missing.
As well as four more skaters in the Swedish national team.
Now national team doctor Richard Noberius reveals the truth behind the defections.
The Swedish astronauts Frida Karlsson and Ebba Andersson made a big success during the World Ski Championships 2023 in Planica and salvaged a total of four medals each. It went best for Ebba, who came home to Sweden with two golds and was crowned WC queen.
Frida & Ebba sick
But after the World Championship, both have been missed when the World Cup made a comeback again. None of them were in Norway when the competitions were decided in Holmenkollen and Drammen, and none of them will be in Falun at home during the weekend either.
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It doesn’t stop there, however, because the Swedish national ski team has suffered a major infirmary after the WC and as many as six skiers have fallen ill. In addition to Frida and Ebba, also missing Lynn Svahn, William Poromaa, Emma Ribom and Johan Häggström in the World Cup.
READ MORE: Jonna Sundling is forced to act on Frida and Ebba’s instructions – honest words about the tough decision: “I don’t feel calm”
The doctor admits
Now the national team doctor reveals Richard Noberius the truth behind the dropout and that it actually comes as no surprise. Because the entire national skiing team has lived in a bubble during the season in order not to get any infection before the Skiing World Championships.
– We have had relatively few illnesses during the season. It has been a tight bubble where we have not let in any virus. If you then get a virus into the bubble, there is no resistance in anyone in the group. Then there will be a greater spread, says Noberius to the news agency TT.
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Which is exactly what has happened now after the championship, when the main goal was for everyone to be healthy before and during the WC in Planica.
– We have had strict conditions to keep the skaters healthy until and beyond the WC. It is stressful to be constantly isolated from loved ones. Not being able to live with your partner or parents if one of them gets a sore throat. This cannot be done month after month. At some point, you have to let the guard down a little. They must be allowed to come home. In this case, I have made a small calculated risk of increased infection in the skaters after the WC, admits the national team doctor in the interview.
READ MORE: Calle Halfvarsson is forced to abandon the family – the drastic measure amid great concerns: “I’m trying to…”
This will make a big difference next year. Then there is neither the World Cup nor the Olympics during the season and the World Cup thus becomes the big main goal, therefore it becomes a completely different arrangement with isolating oneself in a bubble to reduce diseases.
– Now it has been extreme before a championship. The riders have basically been in total isolation for two months. That problem will not be next year. Then there will be weeks during the season when they are at home. By default, when they shop, for example, they will receive small, small doses of virus stocks, which they are exposed to and increase the immune system, Noberius told the news agency.
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