The 29-year-old from Liperi in Finland started the 2023/24 season with fourth place in the season opener in December. Her first podium finish came the very next week. The one she herself had doubted she would ever manage last year. And that’s how Kati Roivas continued for the rest of the winter. 

Following Ski Classics Season XV, Kati Roivas has seven podiums and second place overall in Ski Classics. 

Not only did she achieve her first podium finishes, but she also won Tjejvasan and became the first Finnish athlete in history to win the prestigious race. She was on the podium in Vasaloppet, Birken, and Marcialonga, the three monuments of the long-distance series. 

“It was far beyond what I had expected. I’ve done a lot of good races, took seven podiums and was on the podium in all the biggest races. That’s huge for me, and I would never have thought that at the start of the season,” says Kati Roivas to ProXCskiing.com. 

She points to her second place in Vasaloppet and her victory in Tjejvasan as the two biggest experiences this winter. 

“Even though Tjejvasan is a Ski Classics Challengers, it was very big for me.”

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

What on earth happened this winter? Was it resembling a floodgate that has finally been unlocked for her?

“It’s not a given that I’ll be on the podium every weekend. But a lot of pieces have fallen into place this year,” Roivas tells Langrenn.com after the last race of the season, the 100-kilometer Janteloppet in Hafjell, and continues:

“It’s about the whole team and a whole. I’ve got more continuity and more resources around me. We train hard and push each other, but it’s also about everyone around us: The waxing team, sponsors, coaches.”

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Found her element in long-distance skiing

Kati Roivas has always loved skiing and, like many children in Scandinavia, she skied from the age of three. 

But it wasn’t until she started studying in the US that her racing career took off. After solid results at the World University Games in 2016, she was contacted by the coach of the University of New Mexico, who invited her to join their team. It went brilliantly. She finished second overall in the American College League NCAA and continued with the team for three years. She then continued at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. 

When she returned to Finland in 2019, she tried her hand at the Scandinavian Cup and the Finnish Cup. But it was the long-distance races that really got her going. When she made her Vasaloppet debut in 2020, she finished 18th. 

With a French boyfriend and living in Chamonix, Roivas joined a French cross-country team. She stayed there for two years, until spring 2023. Then she switched teams. 

Prior to the season, she moved to Team Eksjöhus. There she has several of the best cross-country skiers as colleagues and the successful Norwegian coach Marthe Kristoffersen as head coach. 

Seemingly overnight, Roivas went from a relatively anonymous existence with placements steadily around sixth to 15th place to podiums weekend after weekend.

Why is this happening right now?

“It’s probably a combination of several factors. But we are four strong girls on the team, and you really have to fight to keep up in every single session. I try to absorb what I can from the others. And I’ve been working systematically on technique all summer and fall.”

What is your training philosophy?

“I believe in training hard and doing my best, every day.”

Have you changed anything in how you train ahead of the season?

“Yes, I have. I train more skating and more diagonal striding now, not just double poling. I probably focused a little too much on double poling in the first two seasons. She believes more variation in her training has contributed to better balance and quality of training overall.” 

Adding in some regular diagonal striding is one thing. But why skating?

“I mostly use skating as a form of recovery. It gives the upper body a bit of a rest.”

Read More: Marthe Kristoffersen Effect: Elevating Team Eksjöhus to the top

What is your favourite workout?

“Hard uphill intervals in double poling. That’s when I really get down into my “pain cave”. I like that.”

What is your least favourite session?

“I’m not very fond of going to the weight room. I don’t like running either, so running intervals is not my favourite. But both are necessary.”

What are your long-term ambitions?

“I hope that I can stand at the top of the podium in one of the big races one day. That’s a dream come true. But I also hope that the performances I deliver can inspire more Finnish skiers to focus on long-distance skiers. We need that.”

Individual adaptation

Both the Pro Team Director and the coach have complete faith in Roivas. This winter’s stable results and many trips to the podium are the result of several years of solid training. Now, she will build on that, both one-on-one with coach Kristoffersen and together with the rest of the team. 

“I think it’s important to see what kind of athletes everyone is and what qualities they have, and then build on that,” says Kristoffersen. Individual adaptation is a key part of her training philosophy, also in a team setting.

As a coach, she is keen to see each athlete’s specific qualities, strengths, and areas for development. “My job is to get them well trained and help them to realize their potential. Exactly what that will be varies from athlete to athlete,” says Kristoffersen.

“You have to get to know each athlete. In this context, Marthe Kristoffersen points out that not all the skiers in the team are at the same level in all aspects of training.”

“This individualized approach does not weaken the team spirit; instead, it strengthens the collective by improving each runner’s contribution to the team’s success.”

Read More – Marthe Kristoffersen Effect: Elevating Team Eksjöhus to the top

Point in case: This year, Team Eksjöhus went from fourth place to victory in the Pro Team competition in Ski Classics