Hedda Bångman had a winter that was anything but uneventful. She had her best Ski Classics season of her career, despite missing a couple of months of the competition season due to an ankle fracture. Here, she talks about her thoughts on the road to recovery; the lessons learned, her full-time medical studies, and her upcoming goals.

A competitive winter can contain a lot. Just ask Hedda Bångman.

The Swede, who a year ago switched from the French Team Nordic Experience to the Czech Vltava Fund Ski Team, had a strong roller ski summer with several top placements. When the Ski Classics finally started, she finished seventh in the premiere in Bad Gastein.

But the following weekend, she was hit in a downhill section in La Venosta, and when she saw the X-rays a few hours later, medical student Bångman thought the competition season was basically over before it had started:

“I am a person who likes to have clear planning. I have a plan that now and then I should be here or there. Now I had to completely readjust. And I have learned a lot from having to be more in the moment. I had to take one day at a time and evaluate day by day what I could do. I constantly had to ask myself questions. ‘How is the foot? What can I train today? How is the healing process going?’” says Bångman to Langd.se.

And in hindsight, you could say that she managed to get back in a very impressive way.

Six weeks after the ankle fracture, she was back on skis.

And just two months after the first look at the X-rays, she put on her race bib again.

Read More – Bångman after injury: “Much quicker than I thought”

She ended the season by finishing eighth in three of the toughest races of the entire season: Birkebeinerrennet, Summit 2 Senja, and Janteloppet.

“Those races mean a lot to me. And I am a little surprised that I could get back so quickly. In several of the races, I was fighting for fifth place when there was 10km left, and then I fell back at the end, but the fact that I couldn’t do long training sessions meant I didn’t have the stamina for the last kilometres.”

How much did the foot limit you during the winter?

“Of course, I had to keep it in mind all the time. I had a plan to use grip wax at Reistadløpet, but when I tested it, I realized it hurt too much, so I had to double-pole and take it as a challenge. I would say that although the foot’s rehabilitation went quickly during the winter, I feel that it’s going much slower now. In a few weeks, it will be six months since it happened. And I am still stiff in the foot. Tendons and muscles haven’t come back, and I get small inflammations easily if I’m not careful, so I really hope this improves because it’s a bit limiting. I really like to run, but I think there will be much less of that. So, there will be more double-poling and cycling,” says Bångman, who by Christmas will have reached halfway through her medical studies.

And she’s doing it full-time, alongside her elite training:

“Of course, it’s a challenge. But I think it works well. I won’t deny that I am looking forward to the summer when I ‘only’ have training and skiing,” says Bångman, who will also compete this winter for the Czech Pro Team, Vltava Fund Ski Team.