Astrid Øyre Slind started the Visma Ski Classics season on the top of the podium, winning the 33-kilometer mass start in Orsa Grönklitt, Sweden, by a handsome margin on Sunday. 

With one one lap to go, Øyre Slind surged up the alpine hill, dropped the rest of the breakaway, skied the last five kilometers alone and crossed the finish line more than half a minute ahead of the next racer. 

Check out the photos from the Visma Ski Classics opener in Orsa

But the impressive power play performance was not a given. The challenges Øyre Slind has fought the last two seasons could easily have ended her career. 

Had to change her diet completely
Two seasons ago Øyre Slind thought she had caught a stomach bug while traveling to races in Central Europe. It proved to be far worse. 

Weeks of stomach problems turned into months, and Øyre Slind finally scheduled a doctor’s appointment to figure out what could be wrong. A battery of tests and procedures later, she discovered she had celiac disease. 

Celiac disease is a severe gluten allergy, and a serious condition that left alone can destroy the intestines. While there is no cure for celiac disease, avoiding gluten entirely allows patients to live symptom-free. 

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, and wheat is used a huge range of foods. Øyre Slind had to change her diet radically. Breads and cereals, pasta and pizza, foods that typically compose a substantial part of endurance athletes’ diets, had to go. Øyre Slind instead filled her pantry with oats, rice, corn and gluten-free pasta, crackers and baked goods. 

“For the most part, it’s not a big deal, but having to avoid gluten can be challenging at times. You have to be a lot more diligent about planning your meals and snacks. That’s not so bad when I’m at home, but travelling can be tricky. A lot of the food and meals available at convenience stores, gas stations and airports contain gluten,” Øyre Slind says. 

Constant cramping
By the start of the 2020/21 season, Øyre Slind had dialed in her new diet. 

Now, she was on a mission to make up for the sub-par race results of the previous season. That mission failed miserably. 

“Last season, I was out for revenge. That totally went south. I buried myself completely. I was so overtrained that my legs were constantly cramping. But I didn’t see the connection, I just kept hammering myself. And the results were terrible,” Øyre Slind says. 

Øyre Slind had to take an honest stock of the situation. She had trained too much, too hard and with insufficient recovery. She dialed back on the training, and rebuilt her base and strength gradually through the summer and fall. 

“This season, I think I have found a good balance. All good things happen on the third try, right?”

Promising start
Now that Øyre Slind is on top of her training load, she has posted solid results throughout the dryland season and the early ski races, the 33-year-old is off to a promising start. 

At the national season opener at Beitostølen in November, Øyre Slind was not far from the podium. Competing with World Cup-level distance racers, she finished sixth and seventh, respectively, in the 10-kilometer skate and classic races.  

At the Visma Ski Classics season opener in Orsa Grönklitt, Sweden, last weekend, Øyre Slind crushed her competitors in the 33-kilometer mass start race, and helped her team to fourth place in the Pro Team Tempo time trial event. 

Her overall goal for the season is to take home the yellow Champion bib, as well as making history: Øyre Slind wants to become the first female to win the 54-kilometer Birkebeinerrennet without kick wax. 

Won’t take a “Stina Nilsson”
At the biathlon national season opener in November, Øyre Slind was the fastest skier of all the racers in the competition, national team biathletes included. 

However, Øyre Slind confirms that she won’t take a “Stina Nilsson,” referring to the Swedish World Cup cross-country skier who switched to biathlon prior to last season.

“No way! I started doing some biathlon this year because I think it’s fun. It would be cool to do more biathlon competitions, but I am a marathon skier and my focus is the long-distance race series. I can’t go ‘all in’ on everything I love.