Nordic SkiingCross Country Skiing - Norway
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Interviewed by the Aftenposten newspaper, Marit Bjørgen spoke with absolute frankness of his plans for the next season. The goal is clearly the PyeongChang Olympic Games, where he will look for a number of records and where he will not leave anything on the pot.
Sunday 30 April 2017 6 minutes reading time
In spite of the 37-year-old, the point is that of the girl: "It will be nice to go back to the routine already in May. Last spring I had a hip injury and started training later than expected, only in June, where I did, among other things, half the loads I should have done.
In 2016 I could not work 100% until August, while this year I'm in good health so I think I can make a great preparation, especially on the speed of the Olympic sprint. "
This is a very interesting statement because Bjørgen in the season just ended - the first as athlete after pregnancy - in sprints never reached a final. Just her career sprint won her 45 (more than twice as the second best winner ever, Petra Majdic, set 20 times in this format), including 4 gold medals and 1 Olympic.
There are those who have seen in this figure a definitive loss of competitiveness in the format, due also to the inevitable advancement of age. Marit, however, is not convinced: "I did not make the most of it due to the poor preparation. The delay accumulated on the start did not allow me to do specific workouts in view of the sprints. This was the cause of my difficulties.
I realize that at 37 I can not think of getting faster, while young people will grow more and more. But I can go back to 2015 and Falun was enough to win. If I was not convinced that I could go back to sprint, I would have missed it.
I think I have the opportunity to play gold at PyeongChang especially because the track will be very tough, there are two difficult climbs that fit me. So the departure will not be crucial, and to win will also serve the qualities of strength and strength. "
It goes without saying that the biggest sponsor of all time will not neglect distance trials, in fact PyeongChang is going to participate in all 6 competitions scheduled: "Olympic races are spread over 15 days and not 11 as in the World Cup, so there will be more time to recover and I'm considering the chance of participating in all the events. "
Of course his 2017-118 season will be entirely focused on the five-circle event, so it will be difficult to match in the Tour de Ski: "I have not yet made the final decision, but I'm probably not going to take part in the TdS. This kind of preparation has worked in the past so I think it is the best way to follow even in the coming winter. "
Bjørgen is already in the history of the Winter Olympics since the woman has won more gold (6, as many as Lyubov Egorova) and more overall medals (10, formerly with Raisa Smetanina and Stefania Belmondo).
So PyeongChang will have the opportunity to detach the athletes who are currently paired with him in both areas, thus becoming the most successful woman ever in the ice and snow Olympics.
In fact, if the Korean edition were to be particularly rich, the Norwegian champion might want something more.
Primarily becoming the most talented woman in the tout-court Olympic history, as currently the primate is held by Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina, climbing 9 times on the top step of the podium at Five Circles.
Secondly, in theory theoretically can hope to overcome the tout-court primates in the Winter Olympic Games. Both of gold (now held by Ole Einar Bjørndalen and Bjørn Dæhlie with 8) and of total medals (13, in the hands of Bjørndalen).
In short, in the month of February Marit Bjørgen will have the opportunity to write the story, the one with the capital "S". Although he has not yet decided when to end his career, the Norwegian veteran is confident of a fact: "Anyway, the next one will be my last Olympic Games."
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