Next weekend is the time for the Swedish cross-country skiing premiere, and many skiers are already in Gällivare.

“We have super conditions. It will be nice to put on the bib number and start competing again,” says Frida Karlsson in a press release.

The race program is ready: sprint on Friday and distance races in classic and freestyle on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. This is what awaits at the Hellnerstadion in Gällivare next weekend, and many stars are already in Gällivare. Frida Karlsson is already on site and has company in the tracks of national teammates William Poromaa and Edvin Anger. 

During the weekend, national team squads from Switzerland, Canada, Japan, and Iceland will join the Swedish national team and make their season debut in the Gällivare premiere. 

The Swedish national team will arrive today (Monday) for a four-day training camp ahead of the season opener.

“To be able to train on real snow in this beautiful winter landscape feels inspiring; I feel great here,” says Frida Karlsson, according to Langd.se.

Karlsson has already set her sights on Friday’s sprint.

“If you want to assert yourself in the competition for overall victory in the World Cup, you have to ski well in the sprint, and if I am to take a place in the sprint team for the World Cup premiere in Ruka, it is important to perform well in the Gällivare premiere,” says Frida, who has had a training season that followed her plan.

“Of course, I hope that the Gällivare premiere will show me that I am where I want to be so that I can humbly start the World Cup season. My self-confidence is high; I have skied well in Gällivare in previous years; it is a challenging course with both tough uphills and fast downhills.”

Next weekend’s competitions at the Hellnerstadion are not only the season premiere but also the first Swedish competition after the ban on fluor waxes. Mats Eklund, the newly appointed operations manager for SportEvent Gällivare Lapland, which is organizing the premiere, is also the fluor coordinator for the Swedish Ski Association.

“There is great uncertainty and concern among skiers and leaders before the premiere of fluor-free, not least considering the disqualification of the Norwegian women’s skier in the alpine premiere, but we will offer ski tests from Tuesday. Our aim is to help skiers turn their red skis green for the season opener, not punish people. I am convinced this will go very well,” Mats Eklund says in the press release.

Also Read: First fluor-free competition in Sweden – how does the test equipment work?