Linnea Stensils, who is ready for the Olympics in Tokyo, was the big favorite before this weekend's canoeing championships. The two previous years she had won all four competitions.
This weekend, she did not disappoint. Stencils delivered as usual.
- It was a very good weekend, it was very successful. I was a little worried before the weekend, but it was nice that it went well, says Stensils.
Why worried?
- It is always nervous at the first race after a long break. When the Olympics were canceled, I thought I would take the season a bit as it comes. So it was nice that it went so well.
On Saturday, K1 200m and K1 1000m were run, Stensils won both. Yesterday she won K1 500 and K1 5000.
"A pressure on oneself"Did it look like you were superior this weekend?
- Yes, you could say that, she says and laughs.
You have won all four Swedish Championship golds three years in a row?
- It is very easy to think, "I go to the Swedish Championships and if I do not win, I have lost". You have a pressure on yourself and in a way from others. I'm always nervous before I compete.
- Now it has become a thing that I have to win, otherwise it is not good. It was very nice to get a receipt that I am still good despite a long time without competitions.
"It's a suite I prefer not to break"You have to win four Swedish Championship golds?
- K1 200m I have won eight years in a row, it is a suite I prefer not to break. Winning all four Swedish Championship golds is a bonus, it is very difficult.
She says that she took the opportunity to use the summer as a mental break where she did not devote so many thoughts to the Olympics in Tokyo. She has run more basic training and also taken vacations.
- I have not thought about the Olympics every day, not in the same way as before. I've put it on ice a bit. It was nice now when I competed that I felt that all that is left, the desire to win and be the best.
At the 2016 Olympics, she finished in seventh place in the K1 200m.