Nearly two years after the positive test that put her career on hold, Victoria Carl is a few weeks away from racing again. If the German team’s plan holds, her World Cup comeback will come in Trondheim, the city where she won her last championship medal.

Victoria Carl’s 18-month suspension ends in late November, and the 31-year-old is eligible to compete again from November 25.

A season lost

Carl’s case began at the Military World Championships in March 2025, where she tested positive for Clenbuterol, a substance on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s prohibited list. She has said a German Armed Forces doctor gave her the cough medicine Spasmo Mucosolvan, without her knowing it contained the banned substance.

Also Read: Victoria Carl tests positive for Clenbuterol after taking prescribed medication

The case became public in June 2025. Despite the provisional suspension, the German Ski Association (DSV) awarded her the Golden Ski that autumn as its best female cross-country skier of the 2024/2025 season.

The verdict came on April 2, 2026, when the independent German Sports Arbitration Court (DIS) suspended her for 18 months. The DSV accepted the ruling in August. By then, Carl had already missed the Milano Cortina Olympics, where she would have defended the team sprint gold she won with Katharina Hennig in Beijing in 2022.

Read More: Victoria Carl receives an 18-month suspension for anti-doping rule violation

Back with the team

Carl rejoined German national team training at the end of September. DSV sports director Peter Schlickenrieder told Eurosport that her return was an emotional moment for the group.

“It was very emotional to integrate her back into the team,” Schlickenrieder said.

According to Schlickenrieder, her teammates used her case as a learning opportunity.

“The team went through the case once again very intensively with Vicky, and above all drew lessons from it: Could what happened to Vicky also happen to me, and how can we prevent something like that from happening?” he told Eurosport.

He also sees Carl as a key part of Germany’s plans going forward.

“We have to pull together. We have to join forces in the various areas where we still need to get better, including from a sporting perspective. And Carl can contribute a lot there,” Schlickenrieder said.

Trondheim in sight

The World Cup season opens in Ruka, Finland, on November 27, but Carl will not be on the start list there. The DSV is aiming for the second World Cup weekend instead.

“At the World Cup in Trondheim (December 4 to 6), we expect that she will be there,” Schlickenrieder told Eurosport.

The return would take Carl back to the venue of the 2025 World Championships, where she won relay bronze with Germany a few weeks before her positive test.

Before then, she needs to race lower-level FIS competitions to requalify for the World Cup after more than a year out of competition. Schlickenrieder is confident that will work out.

“I believe we will manage that,” he said.

Also Read: Bolshunov selected for Ruka and World Cup in Trondheim

Keeping expectations in check

Carl’s last full season was one of her best. She finished second in the 2024/2025 overall World Cup behind Jessie Diggins, and her career record includes one World Cup victory and 13 podiums.

According to Schlickenrieder, she has not lost anything since then.

“She is at a top performance level, at least at the level she was at before,” he told Eurosport.

He also warned that eagerness could work against her.

“It will still be a challenge, because we, like her, have enormous anticipation and enormous motivation, and overmotivation can very quickly tip into something negative,” he said.

“Stay calm and don’t set expectations too high, because at some point that can even have a negative effect on performance.”

Carl’s case has often been compared with that of Therese Johaug, who received an 18-month suspension in 2016 after a positive test linked to a lip cream and missed the 2018 Olympics.

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