Marit Björgen, with five individual Olympic gold medals on the prize shelf, does not call what she is doing now a "comeback".

- I wanted something to train for, she says to VG. It has become heavier to train in the years after I quit.

She says it's not like when she was active in the national team. It's more about training ten hours a week and seeing how far it goes.

- There may be a little more training some weeks and less other weeks. I prioritize the family and my two sons.

The longest race that Marit Björgen has ridden is the Norwegian long-distance race Birkebeinerrennet which is 54 kilometers long. The Vasaloppet is a bit worse, 90 kilometers.

- Nine miles is brutal, the Vasaloppet is difficult, it is both the WC and the Olympics in the long-distance circus, she says.

She thinks it will be instructive to go long distance running where there are more tactics than she is used to.

- In most races, the women start before the men, so it is important to use the men on the road.

Björgen says that the decision to go to the Vasaloppet has changed a lot for her.

- There has been a lot of sofa since I quit. The first year I had difficulty with motivation, and then I was pregnant. Then there was some training. But when I set the goal to go to the Vasaloppet, it has become something completely different.

CLIP: The sensation: Björgen makes a comeback in the Vasaloppet (26/5 2020)

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