Blink Festival in Norway, as usual, drew a field worthy of a World Cup. But one of the biggest traditional cross-country skiing stars was missing.

For Sweden’s ski star Frida Karlsson, the Toppidrettsveka in Trondheim in just over a week will be her first chance to measure herself against the best.

A large part of the World Cup elite will be there, especially since the last two competitions of the four-day roller ski event will take place in Granåsen, the same courses that will be used during the World Championships this upcoming winter.

Two Days in March

For Frida Karlsson, everything is about the World Championships. The 24-year-old already has one World Championships gold medal in her collection, from the relay in Seefeld in 2019, but she is still missing an individual World Championships gold.

Karlsson has set her sights on two events at the upcoming winter championships: the 10-kilometer classic and the 50-kilometer freestyle. Until then, everything is about optimizing for those two days.

“This year, I will focus on the distance races at the World Championships, she says, according to Langrenn.com.

Karlsson also reveals that she won’t be drastically changing everything she has done so far.

“I am largely following the same plan as last year. I had a great season this winter, I made good progress, and I had a good feeling. But I am making some adjustments to become even stronger in the longest distances,” she says to Fischer Nordic.

This winter, Karlsson crushed the field in the 50-kilometer race at Holmenkollen, winning by almost one and a half minutes ahead of Ebba Andersson in second place.

Also Read: Karlsson wins the 50km race at the Holmenkollen World Cup

Now, Karlsson hopes that her arch-rival Therese Johaug will make a comeback for the 50-kilometer race at this upcoming winter’s World Championships.

The Norwegian Championship gold medalist in the 30-kilometer race, Therese Johaug, is still pondering whether to make a World Championship comeback, but her manager, Jørn Ernst, has hinted that she will make a decision at the beginning of August. So far, the Norwegian cross-country skiing star has crushed her competitors in everything she has participated in since she started competing again in March.

Read More – Karlsson to Johaug: “Welcome back”