The World Championship in Planica 2023 was a successful championship for Ebba Andersson. With gold in both skiathlon and the 30km, and bronze in the 10km and relay, she strongly contributed to the Swedish national team's record-breaking medal haul.
Not much suggests that it will be repeated in Trondheim, and it's not just anyone who claims that. It's Ebba Andersson herself.
I'm looking forward to standing at the starting line on Sunday. But I also know that the season I've had behind me doesn't quite live up to that championship title. But I'll really do what I can to make it go as far as possible, says Andersson ahead of Sunday's skiathlon.
New distances
It's different conditions than two years ago in other ways as well. For the first time, women and men are competing in the same distances at the World Championship, so in skiathlon it's 20km instead of 15km and the 30km has been replaced by a 50km.
But it's not that which makes Ebba Andersson uncertain, but how the winter has gone.
It's been very up and down. And when the results haven't come, it hasn't improved the conditions for getting the mental aspect in place. But it's gradually gone in the right direction, and now I'm standing here with a pretty good status, says Andersson.
"I see myself as an underdog"
In Falun two weeks ago, she took a long-awaited World Cup victory – the season's only one so far – in the 10km classical. Yet, she feels like she's at a disadvantage ahead of Sunday's World Championship start.
Frida (Karlsson) wasn't there, Therese (Johaug) wasn't there, and Astrid (Øyre Slind) wasn't on the starting line either. So I don't know how it would have gone if they had been there. So, I see myself as an underdog based on the entire season, because it's been tough.
That means I don't have as much self-confidence now compared to Planica.
