After two tough years, the Swedish ski star is ready for a comeback. Now she has changed her training and is leaving Trondheim.

Maja Dahlqvist struck back at Toppidrettsveka with a sprint victory on Hitra. Now she is packing her suitcase and leaving Trondheim.

Also Read: Dahlqvist wins Toppidrettsveka sprint race

Goodbye to “the moustache city”

In spring 2024, the Swedish ski star moved to Trondheim to be able to train daily on the World Championship courses and prepare optimally for the 2025 World Championships. There, Dahlqvist took her third World Championship gold in the team sprint, as well as fourth place in the sprint and 17th in the 50km. But overall, the season wasn’t quite what she had dreamed of.

“I got many podiums, but only one win,” Dahlqvist told Langrenn.com.

At Toppidrettsveka last weekend, the Swede claimed a victory, sixth place overall, good physical answers, and a confidence boost heading into the buildup for the 2026 Olympics. That was important.

What do you take with you from Toppidrettsveka 2025?

“It’s super cool to get some competition like this late in the summer. And it’s always extra cool to win in Norway, because they don’t like it when I win. But the most important thing is being in a race situation. That’s good for the preparations toward winter – that’s priority number one,” she says.

Now Dahlqvist says goodbye to “the moustache city” and Trøndelag. Toppidrettsveka was her last round of competitions on her “home turf.”

Are you done in Trondheim now that the World Championships are over?

“I live out of a suitcase, as I usually say. But I’ll still spend a bit more time in Trondheim. I’ve really enjoyed it there.”

Are you moving back to Falun now, since the 2027 World Championships will be held there?

“Yes. I’ll move back to Falun now. But I’m not in a huge rush.”

What will you do heading into the Olympic season?

“I’ve had a really good training summer, but I’m trying to specialize more toward sprint now and have gotten really good quality in what I’m doing. That’s my goal this year.”

Rock bottom – didn’t know what was wrong

From her World Cup breakthrough in December 2018 until the 2023 World Championship season, everything was pointing upward. Podiums and victories came regularly, and Dahlqvist won the sprint World Cup overall in both 2022 and 2023.

But then she stagnated. After two tough seasons, the Swedish star had to make changes. One of them was moving to Trondheim in spring 2024 – partly to break out of old patterns.

She also changed her training approach.

“Two years ago, I was completely underwater. I didn’t know what was wrong, so last year I experimented a bit and worked more on developing my strengths,” Dahlqvist explains.

Last year, she began experimenting to find out what worked best. She settled on more intensity and less volume, with complete focus on sprint instead of distance.

“This winter, I felt I was back on a more stable level. So now I want to raise it a bit more,” she says.

Are you doing anything new in training ahead of the Olympic season?

“I always change training a little bit every year. So, I’ve done even more quality sessions this year, and a bit less volume. I have so much training in my body from many years now that I’d rather crank up the speed and lower the hours.”

The 31-year-old has 45 World Cup podiums, including 13 victories. Except three relays, all of them are in sprint and team sprint. She also has three World Championship gold medals in the team sprint and one bronze. At Beijing 2022, she took silver in both the sprint and team sprint. But Olympic gold still eludes her.

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