When the skiing stars tackled the famous final ascent of the Tour de Ski at the turn of the year, Alpe Cermis, one was in a class of her own in the women’s race.
of the USA Sophia Laukli won the final climax of the Tour by 17.1 seconds ahead of Norway Heidi Weng. It didn’t even bother me that Laukli fell to his knees in one turn.
Laukli was 14th in the Tour’s overall race.
Already a year ago, Laukli showed off her uphill and oxygen absorption abilities when she won Alpe Cermis as the third best woman. Laukli lost France For Delphine Claudel and to Weng, but hit narrowly Kerttu Niskanen.
For Laukli, the most recent conquest of Alpe Cermis was the first victory in the World Cup. He has reached the top 10 in the World Cup on personal trips four times.
“Damn, this is crazy”
Laukli is a 23-year-old highly promising skier who has become familiar with the highlands also in hard-class trail running competitions. At the beginning of December, however, he made headlines with his stories on the Skirious problems podcast.
Laukli downloaded the Austrian skier Mika Vermeulen and a British skier of James Clugnet in an interview that he had been partying every single weekend during the training season.
– I woke up on Sunday and thought: Damn, this is crazy. It’s been a long time since I last woke up on a Sunday without a hangover.
– I counted back and found that I had celebrated every Saturday from the first week of April to the end of October. I wasn’t so proud then, Laukli revealed that he thought about it one Sunday in the fall.
For a Swede for Aftonbladet Laukli said at the beginning of the ski season that, at least in the USA and Norway, other skiers know what he is like. Some have also wondered that he has an “interesting” approach to his skiing career.
– But as I said, everyone is different. This is my unique characteristic, Laukli laughed.
Laukli studied at the university in Utah until last spring. Since then, he has moved to Oslo to focus on his skiing career.
During the Tour de Ski, he said For Iltalehti that he is a competitor 11.5 months a year, because he also competes in running events. For him, partying is a way to find balance in life.
Laukli praised his ability to tolerate hangovers.
– The American university prepared for it. I can manage the situation well, but I don’t know how, Laukli told IL.
To Aftonbladet, Laukli admitted that partying doesn’t help training, but claimed that it hasn’t hurt either. He said that he usually stops partying on Halloween.
For those who wonder how Laukli can still compete at an elite level, he had no answer.
– Because I don’t think this is suitable for everyone. I can train the next day as if nothing happened. I am thankful that it works for me.
Laukli announced that he will continue with his style as long as he is young, but reflected that he will probably have to stop partying “in a few years”.
– But in my opinion, that should not be prioritized, at least not now. If I focus 100% on skiing, I’m not having enough fun.
The sports doctor is embarrassed: “It makes you think”
Finnish sports doctor, doctor of medicine Arja Uusitalo is very surprised by Laukli’s revelations. He would complain that with such “revival” there will be no Olympic champion or world champion at least.
– Makes you wonder what his ultimate goal is. In any case, with this kind of action, he gives the line to others.
– There is no such person or athlete for whom a hangover does not affect recovery and the body’s readiness for training.
Uusitalo emphasizes that he understands that athletes occasionally need time off.
– But especially if it is regular, it raises even more questions.
Usually, skiers’ vacations are scheduled after the competition season before the next training season. They can also have hangover days, but Uusitalo says that then the following days are marked in advance as free from training.
Of course, it may be that an athlete who drinks alcohol on Saturdays has a day off on Sundays. However, the consequences can be more far-reaching – depending, of course, on the amount of alcohol consumed.
According to Uusitalo, alcohol makes recovery worse, even if you rest the next day.
– Normally, on a day of rest, you would recover well and that would boost the readiness to go into traffic on Monday.
– But if you have to recover from that hangover. Even then, the recovery process does not proceed as it would otherwise. If you think about energy stores, the nervous system and other things… It definitely has a weakening effect on recovery and thereby weakens the training effects.
Of course, Laukli’s podcast talks could also contain crayons. Grabbing even a couple of doses of alcohol may still have an effect when you do it regularly.
– For all people, it affects, for example, the quality of sleep. If you sleep worse, recovery is also weaker. There will be a potentially bigger recovery pit.
– It’s terribly difficult to say where the line is. If you drink one dose every now and then, there are no significant effects. But if it’s regular, weekly, yes, even a couple of doses have potential effects.
Women are more sensitive to the effects of alcohol than men, because women burn alcohol more slowly in the liver.
In general, however, the effects are also very individual. Some people react to alcohol more sensitively than others, for example nervously.
No knockout from the Swedes
Everyone does their career in their own way, of course. At least the Swedish stars did not knock out Laukli’s training season, although they were surprised by the revelations.
– If it feels good to him and is fun, he can continue it. I think Sophia has taken steps forward this year, so maybe I have to use the same method next summer, Emma Ribom carved for Aftonbladet.
In Ribom’s opinion, the most important thing is to do things that make you feel good, and that is individual.
– Just like this. Everyone finds their own approach to their sport. I know a handful of athletes who are, like me. It’s about enjoying, that’s how I see it, Laukli answered the Swede.