In her eleventh season on the World Cup circuit, Anna Magnusson made her big breakthrough. For a while, she was a regular on the podium, and she came very close to an individual Olympic medal. Her success played a big part in her decision to continue for one more season.

Anna Magnusson radiates calm and confidence when Langd.se gets a chat with her during the season kick-off at Idre Fjäll. She says she was surprised by the big step forward she took last winter. She started with four straight podiums and the lead in the World Cup.

“It has long been a dream to raise my level, but I was probably a little surprised that it went so well. If I hadn’t improved, I might have thought I had reached my highest level and not continued,” says the experienced 31-year-old.

She continues.

“At the same time, it shows that if you train hard for many years, success can come. I hope I can be a role model in that way.”

Free from injuries and illness

Staying free from both injury and illness was also very important.

“I didn’t have a single period of illness last summer and fall, and I could prepare for the season exactly as I had hoped. Of course that also played a part.”

What did your rivals on the World Cup say about your progress after so many years?

“Actually, a few of them came up to congratulate me and thought it was great to see my success.”

The Olympic disappointment: “I couldn’t have done more”

But despite her success, the Olympics in Milano-Cortina were still something of a disappointment. At least at the time. Anna Magnusson finished fourth in the mass start after coming extremely close to her first individual medal at a major international championship. She left the range in second place after the final shooting in the mass start, having shot clean in all four stages. But as for many other Swedes at the Olympics, her skis were not in the absolute top condition they needed to be for an individual medal.

“The equipment is no secret, and of course it was very hard mentally to feel that I was so close to a medal and to drop from second place, leaving the last shooting to fourth place at the finish. But at the same time I did everything I could, and I see it a bit more positively now, with some distance from the race. I shot clean four times for the first time that season. It was my best performance. I handled the pressure. I couldn’t have done more.”

“I can get a bit more out of it”

A silver medal in the relay saved the Olympics, and Anna Magnusson took home another medal from a major international championship. In total, she now has seven World Championship and Olympic relay medals in her by now fairly well-stocked trophy cabinet. On top of that comes an individual World Cup win. Really, the only things missing are a relay gold at a major championship or an individual medal in a championship race as she enters her twelfth full season on the World Cup.

However, she believes she can keep developing as a biathlete.

“I took steps forward both on the range and on the course last season. I skied a little faster and shot a little better, and that makes a big difference in the results. But I think I can get a bit more out of it.”

New rules on the range

Speaking of shooting and the range – there have been some rule changes on how you must handle the rifle on the range, for safety reasons. You may not start the movement of taking off the rifle before you are standing or lying on the shooting mat, and the rifle must be fastened on your back before you leave the shooting mat. How has it gone relearning this after so many years?

“I think it has gone well. We have practiced it since the rules came at the start of the summer, so I feel confident that I will manage it in races too.”

Are you as well prepared for this season as you were before last season?

“It has been a bit calmer this year, you could say. We have trained more at home. But I have stayed healthy and injury-free this year as well and feel well prepared in that way.”

One reason the national team has trained more at home this year is that the World Championships are held at low altitude in Otepää, Estonia. The Olympics in Milano-Cortina were held at high altitude in the Alps, which required different preparations.

You have started studying alongside biathlon this season. Do you have time for both?

“I am quite motivated to study and learn new things, so it works fine.”

What are you studying?

“A course package in basic psychology.”

Is it something you can also use when you compete in biathlon?

“Yes, but maybe a little.”

It will be a different season with neither Hanna Öberg nor Linn Gestblom competing. What are your thoughts on that?

“We will definitely notice that they are not there. But we have good depth and many talented women coming up. More of them will get the chance to race relays and become confident in that. In the longer term, it can help more athletes come through.”

“A perfect race means the podium”

The success Anna Magnusson achieved last season has given her more self-confidence, and she enters the World Cup season – which starts in Kontiolahti at the end of November – knowing that she can be on the podium if she has a perfect day.

“A lot of it is in the head. In previous seasons I may have felt that a perfect performance meant the top ten. Now it can mean the podium, or maybe even a win.”

The World Cup is a high priority

The dream of a World Championship gold in Otepää is there. But it is not the main reason she is continuing this season.

“For me, it is first and foremost about taking another step. Then the results will follow. The World Cup overall is a high priority. I want to race a lot and get good results. If there is no gold at the World Championships or no individual medal, and I feel that I have improved, I can still be quite happy.”

The season opener is here in Idre next weekend. Will you race?

“Yes.”

What results are you hoping for?

“Consistent results.”

Finally. You are called Krut (Swedish for “gunpowder”). Does that have to do with your consistent shooting?

“Ha, ha. No, it actually has nothing at all to do with biathlon. My big brother made an email address for me when I was little, and it has stuck since then.”

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