Last season, Hedda Bångman raced for a French Pro Team in Ski Classics. This winter, she has switched to a Czech squad. In this article, the Swedish Pro Team athlete talks about her career choices, doing a hundred chin-ups and studying full-time to become a doctor alongside skiing.

Many young skiers dream of going to a Junior World Championships. The Ski Classics Pro Team athlete Hedda Bångman made it to three Junior World Championships. In her last race, she skied the starting leg of the relay, where Lisa Vinsa, Moa Ilar (then Olsson), and Ebba Andersson skied the other three legs, as Sweden finished fourth.

During the following seasons, Bångman competed in several World Cup events, but then she chose to move to the USA.

“It was by far the best decision I’ve made – a stimulating environment where I enjoyed both the school and the program. Then I trained less than I did both before and now after, but it was incredibly personality developing,” says Bångman, who moved back home to Sweden and started studying to become a doctor.

After Christmas, she will start the third year of six of medical studies in Umeå.

How does it work to combine full-time medical studies with elite skiing?

“The studies are great fun and exciting, but combining them with training is sometimes hard. It becomes a puzzle. Many elements are mandatory, meaning I ‘have’ to go home after every competition weekend during the winter. And I have to plan the training so that I do the most amount during the summer when there is no school, and then more speed during the fall and into the season,” says Bångman, who is now entering her third season in Ski Classics.

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Last winter, she had the best career results so far when she finished eighth at the La Venosta Criterium. And she was around the top 10 in many races last winter.

“I feel that I was a better double poler last winter than I was a year earlier. I don’t get as tired after four hours of poling now as I was during my first season. But then I have struggled when there have been two long races during a weekend. Because if you have a bad day in a long-distance race, it’s terribly long. Many thoughts go through your head. On the other hand, if you have a good day and good skis, it’s very fun.”

What changes are you making for the coming season?

“I have tried to be more consistent regarding strength training. I have not liked strength training at the gym, but now I have chosen to run quite short but effective sessions. Above all, I have focused on core training, strengthening my stomach and back. And then I have done chins. I usually do 10×10 chins, so a hundred chins per session. I hope it will have an effect,” says Bångman, a keen roller skier during the summer on long-distance races in Sweden.

Her results include victories at Vaajmarathon and Båstad-Mölle, both Ski Classics Challengers events:

“I like roller skiing, and I like to compete. So, I do many long-distance races to train for the winter. And if I hadn’t gone away and done the long-distance races, I would have had to do the same sessions on my own here in Umeå.”

Last season, 28-year-old Bångman competed for the French Team Nordic Expérience. For next winter, she has switched to the Czech Vltava Fund Ski Team.

Why did you choose these teams?

“I want to get to know new people and see how they train and the culture in different countries. It has been very exciting. I haven’t had the chance to meet my Czech teammates at a camp yet. It will be the first time at the Ski Classics premiere in Bad Gastein. Of course, it might have been good to attend a camp before the season, but if I’m going to study 100 percent to become a doctor and ski all the races in Ski Classics, I have to opt out of something. I can’t participate in everything. But now I’ve managed to join the club (Offerdals SK) at a camp in Mallorca at the end of October; it was a week when there was nothing compulsory in school,” says Hedda Bångman to Langd.se

Read More: Bångman heads to a Czech Pro Team.