Skottheim back - but does not think about the Olympics

At the beginning of last season, Johanna Skottheim had a mini breakthrough with the first individual podium place in her career.

After that, it has been difficult for the 27-year-old.

This season she has only done one World Cup competition.

It was a 61st place in the sprint in Östersund on December 2 - and since then she has been outside the national team squad.

- It is no secret that there are six girls who have done well, so it is a tough competition, she says at a press conference.

Uncertain

However, she is back for this weekend's competitions in Oberhof, which starts with a sprint today.

- It has been a period where I have received some training.

But it is also difficult to know where you stand when you train yourself.

I hope it will work a little better again, says Skottheim.

Sweden currently has six Olympic places on the women's side - so far Hanna Öberg, Elvira Öberg, Anna Magnusson, Linn Persson have been selected.

This means that Johanna Skottheim, Stina Nilsson and Mona Brorsson settle for the other two places.

But the Olympics in Beijing are not something that occupies Johanna Skottheim's thoughts significantly.

- It's not really that much that I want to speculate on and focus on.

I do not think it benefits me to focus too much on whether I can get into a squad.

For me, it's about being able to do good races and then you get to see how they reason and so on, she says.

"Powerless"

However, she says that it has been tough not to be allowed to compete.

- The Olympics are a dream and a goal for many.

When you are not even competing, it is difficult to join a team.

For my part, I want to give myself as good opportunities as the opportunity to compete.

But I do not think it benefits me to think about taking me to a possible Olympics.

It gets a little frustrating when you can not do anything, I feel quite powerless when I can not affect my chances of getting where I want when I am just at home and training.

It will be a rather special situation.

During the Christmas weekend, Aftonbladet reported that Stina Nilsson had been given an Olympic place, which the Swedish Olympic Committee (SOK) denied.

- It got a little crunchy there.

But I do not focus on it right now but look forward to the World Cup that starts and then you have to take it from there, Nilsson told TT the other day.

National team coach Johannes Lukas tells Expressen that the Olympic team will be nailed down after the competitions in Ruhpolding next weekend.