Breaking the silence: This is why Heidi Weng kept her split with her partner of nearly ten years a secret.

Earlier this spring, Heidi Weng revealed that her nearly decade-long relationship had ended. Now she discloses that the breakup was kept hidden for almost six months.

“Yes, it actually happened already at Christmas. But I tried to put it aside during the season, to stay in the bubble where everything is about skiing,” Weng told Expressen.

Weng also opened up about the details, why she chose to keep it private, and why she is now speaking out.

“I kept everything to myself, really. But in the end, it just didn’t work anymore,” Weng told Expressen.

Also Read – Heidi Weng: “I thought it was all over, then came the turning point”

Huge toll – ‘I’ve never been so unserious’

Weng admits that the breakup, combined with the enormous expectations before, during, and after the World Championships on home soil, was a massive strain. That is why she spent extra time recovering this year.

“I’ve never been as unserious as I’ve been this year. Right up until August, actually,” Weng said.

The result is that she now enters the season with less training than she usually does, having let things slide until late summer.

Heidi Weng, who missed the 2022 Olympics after contracting Covid during the national team’s final camp before Beijing, is aiming for her third Olympic Games. She previously competed in Sochi 2014 and PyeongChang 2018.

Leadership role

The 34-year-old has been on the national team for more than 15 years and is now clearly the most experienced skier on the squad.

Weng has competed in 336 World Cup events, reaching the podium in 138 of them and claiming 25 victories. During the 2024/2025 season, she was on the podium eight times, from the World Cup opener in Ruka in December to the penultimate round in Holmenkollen in March.

She has five World Championship gold medals, all in relays, from Val di Fiemme 2013, Falun 2015, Lahti 2017, Seefeld 2019, and Oberstdorf 2021. (She was selected for Planica 2023 but had to return home due to illness). In total, she has 11 World Championship medals.

Weng also won Olympic bronze in the Sochi 2014 skiathlon and competed in PyeongChang 2018. Before the 2022 Olympics, she caught Covid and, although selected, was unable to compete.

She became seriously ill with Covid in 2022 and was sidelined for several weeks. She only returned to racing at the Norwegian Championships Part 2, but just before the event, she slipped on ice on her way to training.

The fall caused a concussion that troubled her daily for almost two years and still requires her attention. On top of that, she was also diagnosed with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) in 2023.

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