Johansson Norgren: "I actually feel more tagged now than before"

Britta Johansson Norgren had won the long distance cup four seasons in a row.

The charge before succeeding with that feat a fifth time was good, but once everything started, the Swedish star had the cup ruined due to cold injuries.

- I'm very tagged.

I had a year where I started the season well before Ski Classics and had done a good training job.

But then it became a really boring season with my frostbite injuries.

I am very full of revenge and now that there will be competitions in SVT, I feel very tagged on a new season, says Johansson Norgren.

You are tagged on a new summer workout?

- Haha yeah.

I actually feel more tagged now than before.

It may not be the first thing you think when a season ends, that you want to go out and roller ski for five hours and stay.

But I am very tagged on doing the job and when you have such a bad season, you also get a lot of time for thoughts and reflections on what you want to do better.

I'm there now and it gives me motivation to want to do those things better.

"Should feel I'm done"

Participating in Ski Classics is no game.

The races are long and are often described as a good test for those who want to see how far you can go.

Britta Johansson Norgren is driven by many things, including being part of a team.

- Every race is a challenge.

It's not something you just go through, it takes a lot of preparation and a lot of work for that day.

It is something that attracts me at the same time as I think this with teams is very fun, she says and continues:

- For my own part, maybe you can think that I should feel that I am finished.

But I feel that I have so much left to do and have never felt that I am close to my maximum capacity and then it has still gone quite well.

Although there may be others who are better and that it will not lead to as many victories, I still want to feel that I got everything out and then it is fun to drive on.

Created a respect

The cold injuries ruined last year for the 38-year-old Swede.

She does not mean that what she went through created a fear in her for future competitions, but still a respect for what might happen.

- Not a fear but a great respect for what the cold does to the body.

It has gone well and the doctor says that I will not have any major problems later.

But I still notice that if I freeze the slightest bit now, it affects my whole body.

Although I was never

worried and felt that this will be good, it took me much tougher than I thought.

- I thought I would be back after a week or so and I could ski quite fast, but it took time before my body recovered.

It creates a respect that you have to be even more careful, that you have to take care of yourself and that all parts have to sit if it is to be a really good performance.

"Hope we get a little audience"

The cross-country cup last season included races in Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Italy and Sweden.

Johansson Norgren says that she has a favorite place among these.

- I have always liked the races in Italy very much.

Marcialonga stands tall and thinks it is a really cool race to go.

I hope we come back and have a little audience next year because that's what's cool about these races in Europe.

Then the Vasaloppet is of course special and it's the same thing there, you want the folk festival and I hope we can get a little away with the corona.

Do you have time to think about the environments and so on during competition?

- Very rarely during the races. People can say "what nice weather you had" and I just knew what the weather looked like when we started and then I do not think so much. But we have been able to see a lot the day before and after. There are some things that are wonderful in that I have been around for a long time and have seen incredible places. I have had the advantage of being able to go and see such places instead of sitting in an office, Britta Johansson Norgren concludes.