Oskar Kardin, Team Ragde Charge, was hit by a car when skiing days before Marcialonga, just over three weeks ago. Despite ligament injuries in his shoulder, Kardin is optimistic and is now training to start at Vasaloppet in just under two weeks.

 “I am optimistic, and I cannot win the Vasaloppet if I do not start,” says Oskar Kardin to Langd.se.

Then came the unfortunate training incident before Marcialonga. Kardin was not paying attention when he was about to cross a road. He noticed a car too late and did not have time to stop.

“I ended up on the road right in front of the car; it hit me and threw me into a traffic sign pole,” Kardin described the incident.

“It could have been much worse. I was lucky in the bad luck,” he now states a few weeks later.

One-shoulder was injured in the accident, tearing some ligaments.

“It is an AC dislocation of grade 3,” says Kardin, which means that several important ligaments were injured.

“I have quite good mobility up to shoulder height, but it is a problem if I have to lift my arm over my head,” says Oskar Kardin.

Despite this, he hopes to be able to start at Vasaloppet.

“I started with leg skate training quite quickly and have run rehab for the shoulder for an hour and a half every day to build shoulder muscle strength. It was 50/50 if surgery was needed. But it is such a long rehabilitation after an operation, so I must do it later if I do not get full strength back,” says Kardin.

After the initial leg skate training, there was some running and Ski Erg.

“Now, I have been able to ski for the last week. But it has been easy skiing. However, at Ski Erg, I have been able to do some intervals. It slowly gets better on the shoulder all the time. We’ll see how it goes, but the physical shape is still pretty good.”

This week he has completed several five-hour sessions on skis, albeit at a leisurely pace. Now he hopes to be soon able to ski a little harder, double-poling on skis out on the track as well.

“There are still two weeks left until Vasaloppet. I’m optimistic, and I cannot win Vasaloppet if I do not start,” Kardin concludes.

Next up in the Visma Ski Classics is Vasaloppet. The 90-kilometer classic long-distance race takes place in Sälen-Mora, Sweden, on Sunday, March 6, 2022.