Before the 2020/2021 season, Stina Nilsson announced that she would leave her career as a cross-country skier to focus on biathlon.
She was then one of the world's strongest skaters.
That the Swede's ride times have been far behind the top since shooting was added is something that surprises Norwegian icon Ole Einar Björndalen.
- I expected Stina to be up there and at least sniff the best ride time, but she hasn't done that.
I don't know enough about how she has been training, but she must have really prioritized shooting training and not trained enough in physics, he says to Norwegian TV2.
Nilsson's answer: "Quite a big adjustment"
The Swedish expert Björn Ferry believes, however, that Björndalen's analysis is very shallow.
- We have to compare with the results she did as a cross-country skier in the discipline that is most similar to biathlon, and that is ten kilometer freestyle.
It is something completely different from sprint or classic style.
If you look at the races she did in freestyle in the cross-country world cup, she was at best 15th and had places between 30 and 40. We know that with a guarantee that it is not enough against the best biathletes, says Ferry to SVT Sport.
Nilsson himself also refers to the fact that the level is extremely high in biathlon.
- I really take my hat off to those who go so fast with the weapon on their back.
I thought it was quite a change when I switched to biathlon.
I think maybe it takes a while to adapt to a new sport, she says.