The World Championship queen from Planica 2023 fears that both her season and career would have been over if her coach hadn’t stepped in.

What started as a common cold at the end of August could have marked the end of Astrid Øyre Slind’s cross-country skiing career.

She explains that instead of progressing like a typical cold, the illness went straight to her lungs, and she began to cough heavily.

That’s when her coach intervened: Chris Jespersen insisted that the World Championship hopeful see a doctor, who diagnosed her with whooping cough.

You Can Cough Until You Vomit for 100 Days

Øyre Slind herself had expected the illness to go away on its own. But had she not received the antibiotic treatment in time, both the World Championship and her career could have been in jeopardy.

“It would have been a complete disaster for me”, she tells Adresseavisen.

The 36-year-old, who won both gold and bronze at the 2023 World Championships in Planica, has the home World Championships in Trondheim as her main goal for the winter. She is incredibly relieved that she got off with just a scare and only lost three weeks of training. Since the end of October, Øyre Slind has been able to train as normal.

“I probably would have been finished as a skier if this had happened to me. The career could have been over. I was lucky,” she says.

Excited for the Season Opener

Now Øyre Slind is ready for the season opener at Beitostølen from November 22 to 24, and she reports improving form. However, she admits she’s unsure of her fitness level after the illness and hints that she might be slightly behind where she was at the same time last year.

Øyre Slind isn’t the only one who has struggled with illness during the preseason. Earlier this fall, Didrik Tønseth also feared that his World Championship dream would be dashed.

The Norwegian season opener at Beitostølen takes place from November 22 to 24. The competitions there are crucial for anyone with World Championship ambitions or who wants to participate in World Cup races in the upcoming season.

The opening weekend schedule includes a classic sprint on Friday, a 10-kilometer classic individual start on Saturday, and a 10-kilometer freestyle individual start on Sunday. The team for the World Cup opener in Ruka from November 29 to December 1 will be selected on Monday, November 25, based on the results from the season opener.

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