The pre-season was marked by overtraining and injuries. The season start was delayed for weeks due to a back injury. But on Sunday, she’s going for the win in Vasaloppet.

Initially, Magni Smedås, Team Eksjöhus, had to change her season preparation due to injuries and overtraining completely. Then, she missed all the Ski Classics races before Christmas due to a persistent injury in her back. When she finally got started again in January, she was only able to participate in a couple of ski races before new issues arose: Now, the 28-year-old from Norway has been diagnosed with asthma.

“It hasn’t been the best season in terms of health,” Smedås states.

The Team Eksjöhus Pro Team athlete is still aiming for the podium in Vasaloppet on Sunday.

“I have only raced four times this season. Five races are left, and I want to make the most out of them. Now, it’s about gathering strength and surplus until Vasaloppet on Sunday. This is not the time to train a lot and eat little, so I do the opposite: I train quite little and eat a lot. That usually works,” Smedås tells ProXCskiing.com during Vasaloppet’s Live Sessions.

Now, she hopes to have gotten her share of injuries and illness over with and reveals that she feels extra excited for Vasaloppet this year. But the journey to the starting line in Sälen has not followed Plan A, B, or C.

Also Read: Magni Smedås aims to fulfill her skiing dreams

Started with extreme cold in Switzerland 

In connection with the icy cold long-distance race Engadin La Diagonela in Switzerland the weekend before Marcialonga, Smedås started having problems with her airways.

After some improvement following the race, the cough reappeared in Marcialonga, one of Smedås’s significant highlights for the season. That’s when Smedås realized she had to find out if it could be more than a cold.

A couple of weeks later, just before the double weekend in Orsa in mid-February, she was diagnosed with asthma.

“I have always struggled with getting a lot of mucus in my throat and feeling it hard to breathe during intense sessions and intervals, but I guess I thought that’s just how it is for everyone,” says Smedås, and continues:

“It’s possible that I’ve had asthma for a while without it being diagnosed. But it might have been triggered, especially during La Diagonela. After that, it became really bad, and in Marcialonga, breathing was really painful.”

Incidentally, Smedås took the victory in Engadin La Diagonela and second place in Marcialonga despite the breathing problems.

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Has not found the proper medication 

Over the last two weeks, Smedås has tried different medications to combat the asthma symptoms without finding the right one. Therefore, she chose to skip Tjejvasan last weekend but admits that watching the race from the sidelines was hard.

“This is my job, and it’s very frustrating when breathing holds me back. Now, I know there are medical reasons for the problems. Still, it isn’t very pleasant when you feel that the medications don’t have the effect you expected, and you have to continue to experiment. But I want to race,” she says.

Also Read: Kati Roivas wins Tjejvasan in a tight sprint – First event win for Finland

Magni Smedås is nevertheless relieved to have found the cause of her recurring respiratory issues and hopes it marks the end of her breathing troubles. The long-term plan is still to double down on long-distance and traditional cross-country skiing, with the World Championships at home in 2025 as a main goal.

Read More – Vasaloppet: a measure of strength