A foot injury wholly ruined the first half of last season. Now, the Swedish cross-country skier Sofia Henriksson is ready to step into a new competition season – she does it on Friday in Muonio, Finland.

“It’s perfect to get rid of the premiere nerves before the competitions in Gällivare,” says Henriksson to Langd.se.

We scroll back in the calendar to the end of September last year. After a couple of difficult seasons, Sofia Henriksson has finally had a good preseason. But during a training camp with the Swedish national team in Planica, Slovenia, an injury occurred:

“It was on the first session of the camp that I stepped wrong. I didn’t think it was that bad and tried to continue a few more steps, but I immediately felt that something was wrong, so I stopped both the session and the camp. When I got home, I was told that it was a fracture in my foot. It felt unfortunate,” says Henriksson, who made his competitive debut last season in Falun in mid-January.

But it took longer than that before the 29-year-old from the Piteå Elit ski club could ski in free technique. Despite the relatively short season, she managed to win two races in the Ford Smart Energy Cup (Sweden) and skied the World Cup races in Falun before the end of the season.

How was your dryland season this year?

“Considering what happened last year, I don’t really dare to say anything. But this time, it has flowed well. I have 100 more training hours from May until now than I had a year ago. The main goal has been to focus on keeping together and being healthy to get the continuity I have lacked in recent seasons. Then, when it comes to training specifically, I have added more training hours at the threshold level than I did before. Then I have worked on developing my skiing in freestyle technique,” says Henriksson, who is coached by Stefan Thomson (who is also the women’s coach for the Swedish national team).

For most Sweden’s elite cross-country skiers, next week’s competitions in Gällivare will be their competition debut. But there are a few exceptions.

One of these is Sofia Henriksson, who travels three hours from the training camp in Kiruna to Muonio in Finland on Thursday.

Read More: Solid start list for the Muonio FIS races.

“There are several reasons why I choose to go there. Firstly, it is quite close to Muonio, and I have not done so many training races during the preseason, and I want to leave the premiere nerves for next weekend’s races in Gällivare. As for the results, I don’t know what to expect. But it’s about getting into the competition mode and building confidence. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to ski a premiere, so I don’t know if my training will get some immediate results or if it will take a while,” says Henriksson.

One week after the competitions in Muonio, it’s time for the Swedish premiere in Gällivare. 

The program includes a sprint in classic style and distance races in both classic and freestyle techniques.

The competitions will most likely be important for the selections primarily for the World Cup in Ruka, but also when it comes to the two World Cup weekends in Gällivare and Östersund in early December:

“I am aware that the competition for the spots is very tough. But my goal is to take a place for the premiere in Ruka,” says Henriksson, who is testing her form in Finland two weeks before the World Cup starts.