In this article, the long-distance skier talks about the importance of summer rollerskiing competitions, the advantage of having started on the Tour before, and the gap that Britta Johansson Norgren leaves behind.

It was an intense competition weekend for Karolina Hedenström, Lager 157 Ski Team, during last weekend’s Blinkfestival:

“It was a very good competition; it shows that Norway is a real skiing mecca. To be honest, I could have gone there just to take the boat trip to Lysebotn,” says Hedenström with a smile.

“Competition-wise, there were no top results for me, but I learned a lot. And besides, we got there right after a tough camp with the team. So, you could say we had the opposite of the peak of form.”

She was sixth in the challenging climb in Lysebotn Opp and sixteenth in the long-distance race Blink Classics.

How do you see the importance of summer competitions?

“It is valuable to do rollerski competitions. It’s a lot of fun, but you can also “train to compete,” and that’s good for the winter. And it is always possible to have a focus in a race that you can work a little extra on. After all, you always want to ski well, but you must be aware that a lot depends on what the training load looks like for that particular race.”

Hedenström raced at the Blink Festival, and in the coming weeks, she will continue with the full 157 XCC Rollerskitour and Alliansloppet. This weekend she will be on the starting line in the Tanumsloppet 40km rollerski race, a Ski Classics Challengers event.

The rollerskiing competition season is important, but the Ski Classics competitions are her primary focus. And it will be a new experience for the Swedish skier born in 2000 after the retirement of Lager 157 Ski Team’s most successful skier, Britta Johansson Norgren.

“It is clear that Britta leaves a gap. She has been very important to me and has given me excellent advice from which I have greatly benefited. And I think I will have “a little Britta” sitting on my shoulder even for this winter’s competitions,” says Hedenström.

Last winter Karolina finished eighth at Årefjällsloppet and ninth at Ylläs-Levi as her best career results. Now she is looking forward to the coming winter and her first “full” Ski Classics season:

“It is clear that it is a big advantage to have been out and started the races before, to have a little idea of ​​the course profile and so on. Then I want to feel that I am continuing to develop, but I have not set as a goal that I want this or that position in any particular race,” concludes Hedenström.