It's not uncommon for biathletes to get sick at Christmas when they've been competing intensively for almost a month and thus become more susceptible to colds.
If you look internationally, I know that many were already sick in France (the last competition before Christmas), says Sebastian Samuelsson.
So it's probably many who have struggled with it. It's probably the intention that you get sick at Christmas.
Fever for a day
Samuelsson got sick at Christmas, just like Anna Magnusson and Johanna Skottheim. And Sara Andersson and Anton Ivarsson recently fell ill and will therefore miss the competitions in Oberhof. Moreover, Jesper Nelin got a bit "half-sick" and didn't dare to train fully.
About his own illness period, Samuelsson says:
I'm a guy, so I always think I'm going to die when I get a little cold. No, it was pretty calm, I had a fever for a day and missed a week of training, he says.
He says that he would rather be sick over the Christmas break than during the competition season.
If I had gotten sick now, I would have missed both this and next week's competitions. If there's a time to get sick, it's over Christmas.
Something to train on
Missing a week of training over Christmas is not something that worries him with regard to the World Championship later. On the other hand, Samuelsson hopes that he has learned from last year's Christmas cold, which made it harder to compete in January.
I'm trying to get better at handling these situations when it doesn't feel super good. Then I get a great opportunity to train on it this weekend, because you get a little worried about your form when you've been sick, he says.
Last year, I became uncertain due to the illness, which made me perform worse. I'll take that with me. It's about trying to make good performances even when the body isn't in top form.
Some who have managed to stay healthy this Christmas are Elvira Öberg, her sister Hanna Öberg (who got sick already in November) and her boyfriend Martin Ponsiluoma. And for the first time in four years, they could therefore celebrate together with their parents.
In Oberhof, the women will compete in the sprint on Thursday and the men on Friday. The weekend will feature pursuit and mixed relays.
World Cup:
9-12 January: Oberhof, Germany
15-19 January: Ruhpolding, Germany
23-26 January: Antholz, Italy
World Championship:
12-23 February: Lenzerheide, Switzerland.
