The super talent Alvar Myhlback is coming off a season with a World Cup debut and a third-place finish at Vasaloppet. Thanks to that third place, he became the youngest ever to stand on the podium at Vasaloppet.

Ahead of the upcoming winter season, which (for Sweden) kicks off in Bruksvallarna at the end of November, Myhlback has been open about the fact that the World Championships in Trondheim is his main goal. For the first time, he is also part of Sweden’s junior national team. When Langd.se talked to Alvar, he was in Livigno together with the A-Swedish national team at a training camp. 

“I got a whole package of camps already in May. We’ve discussed back and forth with the national team and Lager 157 (Ski Team) and came up with a good plan that we believe in. Over the summer, I’ve been to more camps with 157. That’s why we felt that maybe it’s time to prioritize a bit more traditional focus now,” says Alvar about why he’s training with the A-national team in Livigno.

Is there anything specific you’ve focused on developing during the preseason? 

“We have a long preseason. You have time to try and improve everything. But my focus has been on improving generally, with a bit of extra focus on technique and strength. Otherwise, it’s just about building capacity.”

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“Focus on the World Championships” 

As mentioned earlier, Alvar Myhlback’s goal for the upcoming season is to compete in the World Championships in Trondheim. He admits that so far in his career, he has been more of a long-distance skier, but that will shift focus in the winter. 

“Now my focus is on the World Championships this winter. You could say I’m training 50/50 for long-distance and traditional skiing.”

If you could set up a dream schedule leading up to the World Championships, how would it look? 

“The season opener in Bruksvallarna will be very important. Hopefully, I’ll ski well there and in the World Cup before Christmas. So well that I can be sure the World Championships is a reachable goal. Then maybe I can fit in a long-distance race in between, and then hit my peak form heading into the World Championships.”

Are you planning to compete in any junior races? 

“We’ll see how the season turns out. I don’t have a permanent spot on the World Cup team, and there could be long-distance races. The Junior World Championships is definitely one of the bigger competitions, but we’ll see how it all develops.”

“Training 100 hours a month” 

What does a day in your life look like? 

“Not much really happens. I train, eat, and watch TV, a lot. Sometimes I do something in between. Skiing is pretty much my life.”

At 18 years old, Myhlback already has a high training volume. 

“I try to keep my training consistent. Since May 1, I’ve been training about 100 hours a month on average. There’s about one more month of that volume before the intensity increases as the season approaches.”

Not many people your age train that much. How do you manage it? 

“I’ve trained a lot for quite a few years, so that’s probably why.”

Finally, William Poromaa just said that long-distance races are a bit like slow-motion TV, what do you think about that? 

“That’s probably because he double poles so slowly that it becomes slow TV when he’s racing,” he says with a laugh.

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