Brorsson jealous of Norway: "Had wanted to go"

Due to the increased spread of the corona virus, there was no high altitude camp in French Font-Romeu for the biathlon national team during the autumn.

The Swedish stars thus lost three weeks of recharging before the Olympics in Beijing 2022.

Instead, the team has stayed at home in Östersund.

Norway went

Norway made a different assessment.

In October, the team went to Italy and trained in the Lavazè pass 1,800 meters above sea level.

- To be completely honest, I'm a little jealous, actually.

For us, it weighed back and forth for a long time.

But our risk assessment was that it is not worth it.

If we go there and get sick, we may not come home.

For us, it weighed heavier, says Mona Brorsson.

They (Norway) thought that the value of being at the top weighed.

They may have thought the risk was small enough.

The Norwegian biathletes' decision to travel to Italy in the middle of a pandemic sparked an internal debate in Norway.

For example, the Norwegian cross-country team chose not to travel.

The biathletes' argument was that they did not want to slip behind the other nations.

- I can buy that argument too.

I really wanted to go to the high altitude.

But we could use the premises at home and be in the high-altitude chamber, says Brorsson.

TT: Do you think you have lost to the other nations because of this?

- Yes, I really think so.

Slightly.

It is before the Olympics that we envisage this.

We will hopefully have next year that we will start instead, but it is the case that the more times you stay at height for a longer period of time, the better and faster the body will adapt.

It is an important thing that one would have liked to go on.

At the same time, for our part, there was never any talk about it.

When we made the decision, it felt just right.

No one has regretted anything.

Olympics at high altitude

The biathlon competitions in the 2022 Olympics are decided in the mountains outside Beijing, 1,700 meters above sea level.

Hanna Öberg agrees with Brorsson that it is important to get routine from staying at a high altitude.

But for the coming season, she sees no disadvantage in them staying at home in Sweden.

- I would not say that it matters for this season.

Of course, there are disadvantages to the fact that we have not been able to travel down to Europe, but I still think we have compensated for that, says Öberg.