Today the World Cup restarts after the Christmas break and Linn Gestblom stands on the starting line in the sprint race in Oberhof.
She says, at a digital press conference, that she is "fit to fight", but admits that it was difficult in Hochfilzen when she experienced heart palpitations during the pursuit.
"It feels a bit like being chased by a bear, like an adrenaline rush," she says of the feeling of her heart pounding.
"I was pretty shaky on the (last) stilts," she says.
She missed three shots there, after flawless shooting earlier, and finished in 26th place.
She says she wasn't scared; she's had heart palpitations before.
"I've had a few episodes before, fairly sporadically, so I knew it wasn't dangerous."
The shoulders feel good.
She then withdrew from competing in Annecy the week after, but this was mainly due to the fact that she needed to do rehab training for her operated shoulder. However, she also had to see a doctor to check her heart.
"A lot of tests were done. I've been given the OK to train fully and compete again."
She thinks both the operated left shoulder and the right shoulder that she had pain in during the fall now feel good. But she doesn't know if they will hold up so well that she will be able to compete in every race this week in Oberhof and next week in Ruhpolding, the last races before the Olympic trials.
"We'll see after each race. But it's felt good throughout the Christmas break."
"Hope to have a good race"
Now all focus is on achieving good results in the next two weeks to be able to secure an Olympic ticket.
"I hope to have a good race, that it will be good enough so that I hopefully get an Olympic ticket."
In biathlon, there is one men's ticket and two women's tickets left to fight for.
The 31-year-old was out all of last season after undergoing shoulder surgery in the spring of 2024, surgery that had been postponed a year. She has snuck into the season with a race in the season opener in Östersund (mixed relay where Sweden came seventh) and then two races in Hochfilzen (37th in the sprint and 26th in the pursuit).
