Coach Ola Ravald glides along on a bike when Linn Svahn and Frida Karlsson let their roller skis work hard around Östersund's ski stadium. Autumn has arrived in Jämtland, the foliage is turning yellow and green, and the sun warms, but the wind bites as the two cross-country stars complete their interval training.
Linn Svahn may be enjoying herself a little extra. A few months ago, the 25-year-old could barely get out of bed.
I would say it took almost exactly five months before I could train everything again without any consequences, says Svahn.
Slept all day
On February 26, the day before the World Championship sprint – the season's big goal – Linn Svahn fell on the competition arena in Trondheim and suffered both a concussion and a neck injury. The time that followed was terrible, she says.
When it was at its worst, I slept three-quarters of every day and it was for a pretty long time. And I vomited and couldn't do anything, and I had problems with the cognitive. I wouldn't have been able to talk to you like this, then I would have gotten confused and thought "What were we talking about?"
At first, she couldn't even take a light walk without vomiting, it took about two months before she could start living a little more normally. But it wasn't until the end of July and beginning of August that she felt she was back in full training.
Pursued by bad luck
At the same time, she says that in a way it was good that the injury was so serious.
It was quite nice that it was so bad that you didn't get into this "what if" or "maybe it will work". That it becomes a gamble attempt. The time after, it wasn't even relevant to do anything other than just survive.
Linn Svahn has been unusually pursued by bad luck since she broke through with a bang in the 2019–20 season, when she, among other things, won the total sprint cup. Svahn also fell unhappily before the World Championship 2021 and injured her shoulder – an injury that later turned out to be so serious that she missed the entire next season and which still affects her.
What needs to happen for you to be satisfied with this season?
That I get to compete a lot. That I don't fall the day before the Olympic Games. That I don't crash any shoulder. And that I'm not worn out when I enter the season. But you never know.
