The Norwegian skier has been among the strongest this season, but it suddenly stopped. Now Heidi Weng opens up to the possibility that the Olympics could be the final chapter of her career.

Up until the Tour de Ski, Heidi Weng had been on the podium in five out of six races this season, and the 34-year-old seemed to be getting stronger and stronger. But then things turned.

In the sprint on the opening day of the Tour de Ski, Weng was eliminated in the prologue.

In Monday’s 10-kilometer classic, a distance she usually runs well, she finished eighth. She was 47 seconds behind winner Astrid Øyre Slind, and more than half a minute behind Jessie Diggins.

Weng: “Flat”

Now Weng says she does not recognize her own body.

“I feel flat,” she tells Nettavisen.

She is relieved that she still managed to finish inside the top ten.

However, Weng has no obvious explanation for why her body is not responding, but she rules out illness.

“I feel like my body is actually fine. Then I start, and suddenly I feel like I don’t recognize myself,” she says.

Weng is currently 14th overall, more than a minute and a half behind leader Jessie Diggins, after two of six stages.

Read More – Tour de Ski 2025/2026: Standings after stage 2 in Toblach

“She’s often a bit like that”

National team coach Sjur Ole Svarstad is not worried about the sudden drop in performance. When asked whether Weng seems confused, he shrugs.

“Yes, but she can be a bit like that. We shouldn’t read too much into it. She’s often like that, a bit east and west and a bit north and south,” Svarstad says.

Hints at retirement

Heidi Weng is one of three women who have already been selected for the Olympics. The plan is for it to be her last.

Will this be your final Olympics?

“Yes, we certainly hope so.”

She cannot imagine a better place to end her career than the 2026 Olympics in Val di Fiemme. That is where she competed in her first World Championships at the elite level, back in 2013. It is also the championship she remembers best. Since then, she has taken part in five more World Championships and two Olympic Games.

“I probably remember my first championship best (World Championships 2013 Val di Fiemme). It was the first time I got to ski the relay for Norway. I skied the first leg. I was so nervous that ten meters after the start line, I almost fell. That’s probably what I remember best. But really, it’s the whole social atmosphere there (in Val di Fiemme). We had Øystein Pettersen, who started a song, I don’t remember which one, and there was dancing and feet in the air in the common room just for fun between races. That’s probably what I remember best from any championship. And that was in 2013,” Weng told Langrenn.com ahead of last season, adding:

“And I clearly remember the first time I was on the podium. I remember best the things that happened a long time ago, because everything was so new back then. Since then, it’s become routine.”

Has changed her mind before

However, Weng has changed her mind before. After a Covid illness that cost her the 2022 Olympics and the concussion that followed, she thought everything was over. The concussion affected her for several seasons, and she also missed the 2023 World Championships, but last winter, she was in great form. At the World Championships in Trondheim, she won two silver medals.

Heidi Weng joined the Norwegian national team’s elite ahead of the 2012/2013 season. Before that, she spent one year on the development team and two years on the junior national team, giving her nearly 20 years of national-team experience.

Other things are tempting

Weng wants to do other things.

“I kind of want to run some races on asphalt. I don’t know if I want to run on the track, but I could imagine lining up for road races and trying three, five, and ten kilometers going forward,” she tells TV 2.

This autumn, Weng has performed well in several prestigious road races. At the Oslo Marathon, she won a silver medal in the 10 kilometers at the Norwegian championships. A few weeks later, she finished fifth over the same distance at Hytteplanmila, but with a faster time than in the Oslo Marathon.

Are you interested in traditional cross-country skiing? Click HERE and read more about it.