Biathlonbiathlon world cup
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Eckhoff talked about herself like never before, talking about the performance anxiety that cost her the 2020 Cup, which ended up in the hands of Dorothea Wierer. The great disappointment had literally locked her in bed before reading a gastroenterologist's book; after Beijing she does not think about quitting, also because it is not so easy for her to become a mother.
Friday 22 October 2021 4 minutes reading time
Kvinner og Klæbo (Women and Clothes), the best-selling Norwegian women's magazine, visited Tiril Eckhoff in the apartment in Oslo where she lives with her boyfriend Ånund Lid Byggland. The pretext was to celebrate 10 years of their relationship, but several curiosities emerged about the queen of the last biathlon season, to which the popular magazine dedicated the October cover.
If it hadn't been for her partner, who practiced cross-country skiing at a decent level before retiring in 2018, she would not have recovered from the great bitterness for the general Cup she lost in 2020. When in the following days Tiril could not even get up from bed it was he who helped her to react: "You can stay lying here to feel sorry for yourself - he said - or you get up and go out to get stronger".
He had even thought about retiring to escape his problems: “I was completely out of my mind ... but I always felt I had a lot to give. I wanted to show my potential. It was an inner struggle ”. To take his revenge in 2021, it was essential to overcome the performance anxiety, with which he lived for years, so much so that he shivered in the decisive series on his feet, seeing double, throwing up after the races.
After reading “The Mind-Gut Connection” by Emeran Mayer, gastroenterologist and UCLA professor, a new world has opened up for her. “It was at that point that I realized I had a problem. The physical symptoms were too strong ". His emotional side, from a weak point, which often took over, has now become his strong point. “I manage some absurd last laps because I have so many emotions inside me. I wish I was more cynical and strong but you can't change who you are. You have to accept it ”.
As a girl they called her Tiril Pancake because her face was round, including her boyfriend when they met in Trondheim. And yet in 10 years they have never said "I love you", but Mr. Eckhoff immediately understands if Tiril is on a good day on skis: "If he arrives at the shooting range with the same expression he has when I wash white clothes with colored ones , then it will be fine! ".
After Beijing, the 31-year-old from Bærum does not intend to stop even if "we have to think about the biological clock". He does not rule out stopping for maternity and then returning as his compatriot Bjørgen did. Even if it is not so easy for her to get pregnant: “I have a heart-shaped uterus and therefore a pregnancy will be a bit of a challenge”.
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