This is what Swedish cross-country skier Maja Dahlqvist says about the successful last year’s season, stepping down from the national team and a training camp with the American national team.

Maja Dahlqvist is currently based in the USA. In mid-June, she will return to Dalarna, Sweden. But during her time across the ocean, she has, among other things, had time to participate in training camps with the American cross-country national team (which includes her boyfriend, Kevin Bolger):

“I am happy to have had the opportunity to be with the USA (Team) at a training camp in Bend for two weeks. The layout was very similar to the camps I have been to before. So, there was no hocus pocus to tell,” Maja laughs and continues:

“I have chosen to take a slightly calmer start to train this year. It has been a great way to relax the mind. In addition, there are several other benefits to being here and training. The weather is better, plus I can get many hours of adventure training. When I come home in mid-June, it will be one hundred percent training, eating, and sleeping,” says Dahlqvist.

When Langd.se talked to Maja Dahlqvist, it had been some days since it was presented that she and Frida Karlsson, just like Linn Svahn, have chosen to be outside the national team next season:

“It was a bit stormy the first day, but I’m glad we got what we wanted to say. And we have received many good reactions. There are no hard feelings.”

What is the reason why you want to bet outside the national team?

“It is only the sporting that it hung on. Especially last season, it was so sick a lot of traveling with camps at high altitude, an intense competition season and corona pandemic effects on it. Now I want to get continuity in training with my team at home. I think that will be the best thing for me before this season,” says Dahlqvist, who Johan Granath trains at Dala Sports Academy at Lugnet in Falun.

And the duo’s collaboration has been increasingly flourishing. The last season was Dahlqvist’s best, with victories in the sprint World Cup in Ruka, Lillehammer, Davos, and Dresden, which were, of course, the main reason why she won the sprint World Cup overall. Dahlqvist also came home from the Olympics in Beijing with three medals (silver in sprint and team sprint and bronze in relay).

But she doesn’t think that this is about just trying to do the same thing for next winter:

“I have no thoughts of just trying to copy what I did last season. For me, it’s all about development and being at the forefront. My training planning will largely look like last season, but when we train as much as we do, you will always need to make adjustments. The big advantage of my new approach is that there will be much else to adapt now that we will be most at home,” says Dahlqvist.

How much focus will you put on sprinting, and how much on distance?

“I have seen in previous years that the better I get at the distance, the better I perform in the sprint. Then I have the speed from the beginning differently than the endurance. I will work a lot on endurance during the summer, but I will not compromise on my sprint skills,” concludes Maja Dahlqvist.