Cross-country skiing, Tour de Ski | Drama, tears and success. This is Frida Karlsson: – She is loved by the whole country

VAL DI FIEMME/VAL MÜSTAIR (Nettavisen): Something has happened to Frida Karlsson, Sweden’s new favorite star.

With only one stage left of the Tour de ski, she leads by 1 minute and 12 on Tiril Udnes Weng in 2nd place.

Normally, she would have broken off the tour and returned home in tears at this point, at least if we are to go by her previous attempts. In fact, she never managed to complete the tour.

Now she is the favorite to become the first Swede to win the Tour de Ski since Charlotte Kalla crossed the finish line first at the top of the monster hill in Val di Fiemme in 2008.

– In the past, it has been “Frida fast and wrong” that has been on the move, says Karlsson to Nettavisen.

Also read: Thinks the race up the monster hill is broken: – Complete idiocy!

She has no problem admitting that there has been a lot of unnecessary drama in the past. Therefore, throughout the tour, she has only focused on “one day at a time”.

It has been a success.

When the tour started, she said that the goal was to finish. Now the goal is definitely victory.

– I haven’t won yet. The skis don’t go up that hill by themselves, but it would be really cool, says Karlsson about the idea of ​​winning the Tour de ski.

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Star status: – The whole country loves her

She recounts her memories as a little girl when she saw Kalla win the same competition and become a folk hero in Sweden

Now she is approaching the same star status, according to cross-country legend Torgny Mogren.

– I would say that Frida is definitely our new star on the women’s side in cross-country skiing. She has not been given the status that perhaps Charlotte Kalla has had for so long, but with her charm and development, she will rise to that level, says Mogren to Nettavisen.

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He is supported by Philip Gadd, reporter for the Swedish Expressen.

– She is the clear heir to Charlotte Kalla. Kalla is still very popular despite her retirement, but Frida Karlsson is loved throughout Sweden. She is already a superstar and one of the most popular athletes Sweden has. She is big, she is very big in Sweden, says Gadd.

She herself is grateful for the status she is in the process of building up.

– I have no problems with attention. I think it’s kind of fun. I try to do my thing without thinking too much about it. I try to have my feet planted on the ground and continue as I started, explains the 23-year-old.

– I could get frustrated

As a youngster, she distinguished herself in several sports, but like her mother Mia Karlsson, it was cross-country skiing that she ultimately focused on.

– I did a lot of team sports, but I could get very frustrated because I might want a little more than the others. That’s why I ended up with an individual sport, explains Frida.

The 23-year-old grew up in Sollefteå in Sweden. A municipality with just over 8,000 inhabitants.

It’s not the world’s navel, but they have produced good cross-country skiers.

– Cross-country skiing is close to my heart with my mother doing it. It’s a sport where I come from. That is probably what made me become a skier, says the Swede.

Her big breakthrough already came during the WC in 2019, when she won silver in the 10-kilometer race and later bronze in the 30-kilometer race.

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Stressed by Johaug

Later, she took further steps and was perhaps the one who gave Therese Johaug the hardest fight in her last year as a performer.

But the fight against Johaug came at a cost, let’s believe Karlsson and those who have followed her most closely.

– In a way, I had her as the big carrot. It was so clear that she was the one you had to beat to win and you always go for the win. I thought in training “how am I going to beat her?”. I had to improve my strength if I was going to beat her. It was a cool carrot to have, but in another way the feeling before a race was that I had to overperform if I was going to win. It is clear that there was pressure – not from outside, but from myself, explains Karlsson.

– Was it burdensome?

– No, but it turned out that I had to take chances. It became such that it had to bear or break. I had to open hard and I had to endure the race to win, says the 23-year-old.

The Swedish cross-country legend Mogren does not know whether it was the hunt for Johaug that was decisive, but is clear that you see a completely different Frida now that the Norwegian cross-country queen gave up after last season.

– You see a completely different Frida Karlsson this year compared to last year. She has a completely different calm. It is night and day. Whether it’s because Therese Johaug isn’t there or not, I don’t know, but last year she was stressed. She went very well at the start of the season, but then things started to go the wrong way. In the Olympics, nothing worked. I think she got mentally stressed. It worked, quite simply. It was a mental collapse, was my feeling, explains the expert.

National team manager Anders Byström also sees a difference.

– She seems harmonious, says the national team manager to Nettavisen.

Karlsson agrees.

– This year I have been able to walk a little more in my own way. I have thought more about how I will have a little more energy left for the second round. I have set up the races a little differently. Even though they didn’t want Therese to have a big meaning, it was a bit like that, says the Swede.

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– Can reach very far

Now it remains to be seen whether she will keep her cool when the Tour de ski is decided on Sunday.

The experts Nettavisen speaks to believe so and that there is more to come for Sweden’s new favourite.

– She is quite young. With every victory and every progress, she gets more self-confidence. I think she can go very far if she plays her cards right. It’s a very fine balancing act. It can suddenly come to an end with overtraining. Then it is quickly done that it will be a year or a half that smokes. You can’t bear that time and time again. So we can only hope that she does things right and that she manages to maintain this form, says Mogren.

As for Frida, she takes it one day at a time, as in Tour de ski.

– I don’t think much about the future. I am here and now, but there are clearly things I want to achieve. But I am present on the journey. I focus on what I want to develop now and see that I am able to take those steps. That’s what motivates me the most.

The women’s final stage of the Tour de ski starts on Sunday at 11.00.