For Anne Kjersti Kalvå, the winter turned into a profoundly challenging affair, starkly contrasting with the jubilant 2022/23 season marked by World Championship medals and World Cup victories. The season saw her weekend after weekend trying, waiting for things to click, but without much success.

“It was completely awful,” Kalvå tells VG.

In hindsight, Kalvå easily sees what the issue was: she ate too little relative to her training volume. She lost energy and vitality, and incurred some injuries that forced her to adjust her training.

Her strong finish with a podium placement at the end of the season during the World Cup Finals in Falun was crucial. Not least, mentally.

Unintentional

Kalvå finds it not difficult to discuss weight and performance. From her perspective, optimal weight isn’t about being as light as possible.

“I don’t have a problem talking about it. Weight is a crucial factor in our sport. But optimal weight isn’t about being the thinnest and lightest possible. You need power and pressure in what you do. You need to endure training, stay healthy. I’m glad I can see it that way. There are others who can’t. But I can honestly say I pushed the limits and became too thin too early,” Kalvå tells VG.

She also emphasizes that she did not consciously try to eat less.

“I think you just get tunnel vision. You’re so eager, you don’t think much about needing to consume a lot more calories.”

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Should have pulled back

Head coach of the women’s national team Sjur Ole Svarstad takes responsibility, stating he should have been more attentive, slowed her down.

Now both Kalvå and the support staff are taking measures to ensure it doesn’t happen again next winter. At the same time, he says they are facing the consequences. The national team has now had medical support and a nutritionist involved in their training camps, with extra focus on recovery.

Furthermore, Kalvå has also been given the green light to train according to the regimen she firmly believes in: four solid altitude training camps from autumn leading up to the late February World Championships.

Read More: Therese Johaug opens up about World Championships comeback

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Intense training environment

The 32-year-old from Lundamo knows the trails that will be used for this winter’s championships better than most.

However, how easy it will be for Kalvå to hold back on training remains to be seen. Last year, both twins Tiril and Lotta Udnes Weng moved to Trondheim to train as much and as well as possible on the World Championship trails leading up to the event.

Recently, Swedish rival Maja Dahlqvist also moved to Trondheim with the same purpose. Additionally, Frida Karlsson has hinted at planning to spend a lot of time at the World Championship venue ahead of the season.

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