The season so far has been a continuous success for Mattis Stenshagen. He leads the Scandinavian Cup, and now the 27-year-old from the private team Team Swix is heading to the World Cup races in North America in mid-February. He does so with a good dose of newly acquired confidence and high ambitions.

“I have performed well in the World Cups I have participated in this year, but there is a step up to the very best,” Stenshagen tells Langrenn.com.

Stenshagen achieved his first podium finish in the World Cup as part of the Norwegian team that came third in the relay during the World Cup round in Oberhof on January 21, his first national team assignment this season.

“I feel like it almost doesn’t count. Given the situation in men’s cross-country skiing internationally, you’re almost guaranteed a podium spot if you’re on a Norwegian relay team,” he says.

In this context, Stenshagen points out that he is far prouder of his fourth place in the 20-kilometer classic the day before. Then, only a tenth of a second separated him from Pål Golberg in third place.

“I am happy with where I am now, but I am still chasing my first individual podium finish, and I feel I have more to give before I am as good as I can be,” he says.

But it was far from a given that Stenshagen would be where he is this year.

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Straight up and straight down

Stenshagen was a great talent as a junior and U23 skier. He won gold and silver at the Junior World Championships and U23 World Championships and was predicted to have a bright career.

The 2018/19 season led him straight into the national junior team and then to the elite national sprint team along with Erik Valnes, who was of the same age, the year after.

All arrows pointed straight up for a while.

“I did some things that turned out negatively. There are things that are easy to do as young and eager, but also easy to avoid. I was curious and wanted to explore a lot of different things. But I neglected the signals my body gave me, and I hit a real training slump. There are some mistakes one should learn from others and not make themselves,” Stenshagen says in hindsight.

He hit rock bottom hard. Suddenly, his body stopped responding. The results did not come, and the national team spot was lost. Stenshagen, who was then 23 years old, realized he had to make a choice. Then, he faced reality.

“I felt I had three options. I could retire. I could continue in the same way I had been doing and hope that it would miraculously yield different results. Or I could draw a line and start over from scratch,” says Stenshagen.

He chose the latter.

“It was a big defeat to lose the national team spot. At the same time, I had so much joy in cross-country skiing and ambitions that I did not want to give up, but I knew I was on the wrong path. I had to make a change, because I also understood that continuing in the same track and expecting a different result is madness,” says Stenshagen.

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Building stone-by-stone

In recent seasons, Stenshagen has worked systematically with coach Torstein Dagestad in various private teams, first in Team Aker Dæhlie and now Team Swix. The overarching goal remains the same as when he was on the national team: the World Championship and the Olympics.

“I had to start all over again, lay out a plan, build stone by stone, and give it time before I could draw conclusions. It takes time to regain self-confidence, but now I see the results of the work I have done, says the 27-year-old from Follebu, who has delivered solid performances since the start of the season in November.”

“It is satisfying, especially when you have been through every athlete’s nightmare, training and training and just getting worse and worse. Turning that ship around is delightful, and I am satisfied with the choices I have made,” he says.

“Yes, the national team spots are tight. But cross-country skiing is actually a simple sport, and we all have the prerequisites to succeed in Norway. Many people are investing in the entire country, training is done well in many places, and it is possible to create good conditions for becoming good outside the national team,” Stenshagen tells Langrenn.com.

Priorities, considerations, and dilemmas

Stenshagen says that the way back has not only been long but also full of priorities and partly complicated strategic considerations.

For example, he prioritized the Scandinavian Cup over the World Cup and pre-World Championship in Trondheim before Christmas, taking the lead there. He defended that lead in the second round of the cup on the first weekend of January, and as the leader of the Scandinavian Cup, he has a free pass to all World Cup rounds for the rest of the season. He intends to utilize this with a foundation of partly dearly bought experience.

Now, Stenshagen faces a new dilemma: A free pass to all World Cup rounds is a bit like letting a child loose in a candy store. He knows he must choose some to skip, and perhaps the smartest choice on paper would be to skip the World Cup races in North America in mid-February, just a couple of weeks before the final in the Scandinavian Cup.

Stenshagen knows that if he wins the Scandinavian Cup overall after the final in Hommelvik on the first weekend of March, he has a free pass to all World Cup rounds in the entire first period next season, up to the Tour de Ski. Such a free pass could be worth its weight in gold in the fight for a spot in the Norwegian squad for the World Championship at home in one year.

“Results at the highest level matter when the World Championship team is selected,” emphasizes Mattis Stenshagen.

At the same time, there’s a boyhood dream in the 27-year-old.

“The opportunity to compete in the World Cup in North America is one of the highlights in a cross-country skiing career. But it was a consideration in relation to the Skan-Cup final in Hommelvik, and there are some factors about competing in the World Cups in North America that can turn out negatively as preparation for Hommelvik. But I will stand by it.