A year ago, the Swedish cross-country skier Linn Svahn was working to return to the competitions. Now, she is heading into a new winter with a completely different feeling.

It was February 2021. With a solid behind her, Linn Svahn started the month of the World Championships in Oberstdorf as the favorite to win gold in the sprint. But a fall in the quarterfinals at the World Cup in Ulricehamn on February 6 proved fatal.

Two weeks later, favorite Svahn was out in the semi-final at the World Championships. She did a few more races during the end of the season, but the problems in her shoulder continued to cause issues, and in September 2021, she had shoulder surgery. A few months later, a new surgery and it was straightforward that she would miss the Winter Olympics.

On December 9, 2022, she made her competitive comeback when she won the sprint in Idre, Sweden. At the World Cup comeback in Livigno, Italy, a month later, she finished fifth in the individual sprint, and the next day, she won the sprint relay together with Maja Dahlqvist. 

Svahn reached the final in all the international sprints she competed in last year’s season. At the World Championships, she finished fourth (behind her three teammates, Jonna Sundling, Emma Ribom and Maja Dahlqvist).

“If I were to summarize last season, it was, based on the conditions, my best season ever. Those who saw me at this time last year didn’t think I could compete. I was at my worst level since I was maybe fifteen years old. I had to play a lot in my training to create magic; it took so much to make it happen. But somehow, we managed to do it. And I must say that it would never have been possible without Ola and Bystedt (coach Rawald and physio Markus),” says Svahn from the national team’s high-altitude training camp in Livigno, Italy, to Langd.se.

What kind of training have you been able to do more of, or in a different way, for the coming winter compared to last season?

“I have been able to do more of everything. Now, I can constantly push the limits to get even better, and that’s what I want to do in my career. I don’t want to deal with injuries and have to think about what I can do today and what I can do tomorrow. I want to set a goal and start working towards it, and this year, we have been able to do that. I feel like I’ve done many good things this summer and fall, and there’s still much to do. It feels great to finally be in a place where I can just focus on developing. I can’t wait for the winter,” says Svahn, who chose to remain outside the national team during the last pre-season. 

Now she is back in the national team activities, just like Frida Karlsson and Maja Dahlqvist.

“It’s nice to be back; we have an excellent feeling in the team. How the national team looks and works right now is how a national team of this caliber should be. Everything is at the highest level,” says Svahn.

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