Ahead of the 34-year-old's fourth and final Olympic slalom, she giggles a little, embarrassed about it all.
I guess I wasn't that nice there, after Beijing. It was a big disappointment, but maybe I didn't have the best preparation with my foot injury. Now I'm coming more prepared. The job is done. I feel like I'm ready.
Mostly a wait until the start now?
A bit like that, actually. The last few days have been tough. Now I just want to go out and drive.
The results this winter have been consistently good – her average placing is 7.6 across the seven competitions she has finished – but she is waiting for the big hit.
Wiberg believes in her
She has the capacity, and SVT expert and former alpine star Pernilla Wiberg believes that the slope in Cortina suits Swenn-Larsson.
"Yes, but absolutely. I think it suits me. It feels like a nice fit. But it doesn't really matter that much. It's about getting all the technical pieces that are required," Swenn-Larsson says during a press conference at the Swedish base Hotel Menardi.
It's a lot of all or nothing about her approach to that final Olympic appearance.
I have a fifth, a ninth and an eleventh place in the Olympics. What I lack is a real top place and that's what I'm going for.
At my age, I'm not satisfied with coming ninth, like I did at the Beijing Olympics. It's a great result, but it's not where I want to be. I know I have to be at my best to be up there.
“Want that little extra”
It's about finding the perfect balance between speed, rhythm and risk-taking. That's what Anna Swenn-Larsson did in the last two championships, the World Championships in Méribel and Saalbach.
Sometimes it's easy in a championship to want that little extra, you know it's not about points, it's the medals that count.
The future after this season?
I know it's my last Olympics, but I haven't decided how long I'll be doing it. There's no lying about being in my final years. But I feel more motivated and excited today than I did 10–15 years ago.
I feel like I'm keeping up and that I'm still performing. And that it's fun.
Other Swedes in Wednesday's slalom are Sara Hector, recent silver medalist in giant slalom, Hanna Aronsson Elfman and Olympic debutant Cornelia Öhlund.
Henrik Skiöld/TT
Facts: Anna Swenn-Larsson
TT
Born: June 18, 1991.
Discipline: Slalom.
Main achievements: World Championship silver in Åre 2019.
World Cup victories: 2.
Top 10 positions: 16.
Olympic merits: 5th in Sochi 2014, 11th in Pyeongchang 2018, 9th in Beijing 2022.
Current: Makes her last Olympic start when the slalom in Cortina is decided on Wednesday.
