Ingvild Flugstad Østberg has not participated in any competitions in the rollerskiing season this year. Her head coach Pål Gunnar Mikkelsplass believes the risk of injury is greater than the benefits of rollerskiing as competitive training for the ski season. That is why he has kept Flugstad Østberg away from rollerskiing competitions this summer. 

“The margins (on rollerskis) are so small. There is a greater risk of injury. We cannot afford that. We must not do anything stupid that causes Ingvild to ruin the training season with injuries,” says Mikkelsplass to Dagbladet.

After Flugstad Østberg was not selected for the Norwegian national team ahead of the current season, the 31-year-old concluded that she wanted to continue her efforts towards a comeback in the World Cup and the ambition for a place in the World Championships squad for Planica. 

Flugstad Østberg then built a separate team to aim for a comeback for the 2022/23 World Cup season. Except for a short visit to the World Cup last December, she has not competed since she was denied a start at the start of the 2019/20 season. She missed most of that season and was out for the 2020/21 season.

But now Flugstad Østberg will be on a steady course toward a comeback in November. She has trained well throughout the summer, and so far, the autumn is also going according to plan, including an extensive stay at altitude in September. 

Mikkelsplass now believes that Flugstad Østberg had trained just as well in this year’s run-up as she did in the years when she was at her best. 

 Mikkesplass has adjusted something in the training program for Flugstad Østberg after he took over as her head coach. 

After many years of training, Flugstad Østberg has built a solid endurance base. Therefore, she now trains slightly less in favor of a greater focus on strength and high-intensity hard sessions. 

Specifically, a lot has been done in intervals ranging from five to ten minutes at i3 intensity in varied terrain and both classic and skating. 

Now she turns the intensity up a notch and trains in the i4 and i5 zones. 

After that, the plan is to enter a period with more focus on i3 intervals again and then run a period with a higher intensity again just before the start of the season. 

The changes should make her a little faster and more explosive, qualities that are increasingly important in modern cross-country skiing. This is especially true when many competitions occur on artificial snow, where the track conditions are often faster than natural snow. 

The last time Flugstad Østberg took part in an international championship was during the 2019 World Championships in Seefeld, Austria. There she won a medal in all the events she participated in: silver in the 15km skiathlon, in the 30km and the relay, and bronze in the 10km classic and the team sprint. If she succeeds in qualifying for Planica 2023, she will be ready for her fifth World Championships.