Last winter, she won five individual races in the World Cup, took home the Sprint Cup, and challenged Jessie Diggins for the overall World Cup victory until the last winter race. During summer, Linn Svahn made an interesting change in her training: “I will continue with double threshold days in my training plan,” says Svahn.

Linn Svahn had her big breakthrough and was a favorite for the World Championships gold in the sprint in 2021. But a fall in Ulricehamn a couple of weeks earlier proved to be fateful, and it took a season and a half before she was back in full form.

The Swedish traditional cross-country skiing star made it to the World Championships in Planica (2023), and there she finished fourth twice, following a strong finish to the winter.

But during the past season, she took clear and decisive steps toward the very top of the world. On December 30, 2023, during the sprint at the Tour de Ski, she was back at the top of an individual World Cup podium again, and she won five individual World Cup races in total throughout the season. This resulted in her convincingly winning the Sprint Cup.

Additionally, she was the only skier who could challenge Jessie Diggins for the overall World Cup title into the final weekend in Falun.

At the moment, she is halfway through the dryland season leading into the upcoming winter. And Svahn, together with her coach Ola Ravald, has chosen to experiment with training days featuring double thresholds.

The concept is briefly about two speed sessions on the same day, both at threshold intensity. The aim is to increase the volume of quality training without entering an “interval load.” Lactate tests are often used to ensure the load is at the right level. Middle- and long-distance runners have successfully used this training method.

Also Read: World Cup skier tests double threshold days

“As we plan now, it’s about incorporating this during the buildup period, and I think we’ll do two or three ‘double threshold days’ per week. This could involve days where, for example, we do 45-50 minutes of effective threshold intensity skating in the morning and then either a poling session, running, or classic skiing in the afternoon. Also, for 45-50 minutes of effective time. This means it would be between 1.5-2 hours per day. And then it’s very important that the load isn’t too high, so, during those sessions, I think it’s important that we do lactate tests to make sure the load is at the right level,” said Ola Ravald in a previous interview for Langd.se.

During the summer, Svahn has been doing days with the double threshold setup: 

“We’ve had a systematic approach to the double threshold days, and it’s definitely something we will continue with. It feels like I’m responding well to it, and it’s been nice to test,” says Svahn and continues: 

“We’ve been careful with the intensity and had a clear plan for the training days before and after. Now I have so many years of training behind me, and then small adjustments can have a good effect,” says Svahn, who was on the World Championships courses in Trondheim this past week to train and compete during the Toppidrettsveka.

For Svahn, the competition at Granåsen ended with tenth place in Friday’s mass start and sixth place in the final pursuit.

“It was nice to test the World Championships course in such a context. The competitions are mostly a bonus. At this time of year, it’s more about becoming familiar with where we will compete and getting a feel for the World Championships terrain.”

Have you already set your goals for the World Championships in Trondheim? 

“Championships are championships, and that’s where we try to have the best days of the year. But it’s important to be diligent with the work that needs to be done here and now. I don’t want to be too detailed too early, and I already started focusing on those days in February and March. It’s more about doing the daily work and building a resilient body that can handle and respond well to a lot of training. Then, as the time approaches, it’s more about fine-tuning the details that will allow me to ski fast on that specific course,” says Svahn and continues: 

“We have chosen to make a clearer focus on sprints and the shorter distances. This is to achieve a bit more development there, and it’s where we see that I have the greatest chances of achieving something really good,” concludes Linn Svahn.

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