Ilar was hit by online hate after she let national team colleague Maja Dahlqvist go on the run in Lahti, allowing her to win the 2023 Sprint Cup.
"My husband had to go in and clean up so I wouldn't have to. Of course it was tough," says Ilar in connection with the Olympic camp in Crete last year.
It turns out that for one negative comment you need ten positive ones to balance it out. So it certainly has an impact.
Since last year, over 1,000 active ski and snowboard athletes have been part of the International Federation of Skiing and Snowboarding's (FIS) Threat Matrix program that screens their social media. And during the Olympics in Italy, which start next week, the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) AI service will clean the accounts of Olympic athletes.
"We were pleased with the results in Paris, and now we are rolling out a larger, more developed service. It is good that we are flagging and working with the relevant platforms to remove openly offensive online content," says Johan Flodin, performance development manager responsible for safeguarding at the Swedish Olympic Committee (SOK).
“The responsibility is not mine”
He says online hate is a big problem in society, even in sport, which "is strongly connected to a lot of emotions" and where gambling and money are also involved.
"Of course, you've heard about things like that. But that responsibility doesn't lie with me. I always do my best," says Ilar.
Biathlete Sebastian Samuelsson says online hate is "low-intensity" and happens all the time.
"You have become used to that environment, unfortunately, and it's something you have to deal with. It's sad if you start to limit yourself because of that," he says.
Gnabb with a twinkle in his eye
Samuelsson has been joking with the Norwegian biathletes for several years, and perhaps believes that this has contributed to him receiving more hateful comments.
"But all the bickering I've had with the Norwegian team has very much been in the light of the situation," says Samuelsson.
Ahead of the Olympics, the Swedish squad is undergoing the Safe Championships training, which is about security in the digital world.
"I think that people should plan to be careful about reading too much social media during the Olympics. At the same time, it is a window for athletes to talk about themselves and their work, which the IOC now also encourages," says Flodin.
