We meet the day before the three-mile at the SM, the competition that ends the season for Ebba Andersson. She settles into an armchair in a hotel in Kalix, casually dressed in a black hoodie. She feels relaxed and as a viewer you would easily think that she feels a sense of relief that the long competition season is over and she gets time to rest and recover.
But Andersson does not feel relieved.
She’s a little pissed off.
– When you see how it looks at the Kalix ski stadium, you become a little puzzled that the season has not been postponed. In November there wasn’t even snow to warm up on, but here there are great conditions for weeks to come. Why do we stop after Lahtis? Put some world cup competition in northern Sweden or Finland this time of year. The winters don’t look the same as they did a few years ago, she says.
– It is something I think Fis and the ski association should review.
When you think about it, maybe it’s not so strange that she just wants to keep competing.
Because the day after we met, Andersson wins the SC three-mile in superior style and it will be the crown of a season that is unlike any of the previous ones in Ebba Andersson’s career.
When everything started in Bruksvallarna at the end of November, Andersson had two individual WC medals (both bronze from Oberstdorf 2021) and had won a World Cup.
Now she has taken a total of five victories in the World Cup and double WC gold in skiathlon and 30 kilometers.
Ebba Andersson: That’s why I became a winner this year
So what is it due to?
Ebba Andersson raises two fingers to the sky.
– There are two aspects. One: dominants like Marit Björgen and Therese Johaug no longer compete, but then there is also aspect number two. I ride better than I have ever done before and that is also behind the victories.
The foundation for this season was laid right after the last one. Andersson’s Olympics in Beijing were not at all what she had imagined. She left the championship without an individual medal and “only” a bronze in the relay where the Swedish team was the favourite. She herself describes it as a wake-up call.
– From the time I established myself in the world elite, I just rushed and never stopped and asked myself the question: “What do I actually need to do?”
Andersson says that she now has a better understanding of the whole, which she develops into what diet and rest can mean in order to absorb all the training.
– You like to think that hard work pays off – and it does – but not at any price. I almost had to rebuild the work from scratch and trust that I did it right.
Apparently you did?
– What I do know is that the season I’ve had now is the best I’ve ever had. Then of course, if you have to be like that, the Russians are missing and Therese Johaug is missing.
Andersson shrugs.
– But what the hell? I feel stronger, I’ve been skiing better than before and that feeling, like no one can take away from me.
The fact that you stepped forward and took so many victories this year has led to comparisons with Johaug in particular, how tired are you of getting questions about that?
– Both. It is of course an honor to be compared to one of the greatest of all time, but will I ever become the individual Therese was and is? No, so from that perspective it’s tiring.
We put her aside. All the success this year, has it changed you?
– The successes this season have not changed me as a skier or a person, not one bit. However, I notice that it means a lot to others.
Ebba about all her TV appearances: “I think people are tired of me”
She has noticed this not least thanks to the increased attention that has surrounded her since the success at the WC. At the end of the season, Andersson shuttled between the TV sofas and participated in everything from Carina Bergfeldt’s talk show to Nyhetsmorgon.
– I think it went well, but I felt when I was sitting on the last TV sofa that people must be tired of me, says Andersson.
I do not think so. But it’s a little different from a regular interview after a race. Did you feel any pressure to offer yourself?
– No, it was quite relaxed, you sit down on a sofa and talk. The fact is that it’s nicer than after a race when you’re tired, it’s a bit cold and you get a mick in your face – then you put on a facade. Now you could offer a little more of yourself, she says.
Andersson did this, among other things, through a story about the hotel toilet during the Olympics in Beijing, which was frequently visited due to her nervousness – something that brought laughter to the studio.
– It actually didn’t feel strange to tell that story, she says.
– It felt as comfortable and pleasant as possible, despite the fact that it was a somewhat new context.
Just as she herself is up to, it is a new chapter in 25-year-old Andersson’s career. Since she stepped into the senior elite, there has always been a skater who was a bit sharper or a star who shone a little brighter. Like Therese Johaug, Frida Karlsson – and here Andersson himself takes over.
– Charlotte Kalla or Stina Nilsson, exactly.
So how does it feel now not to be overshadowed by any of them? What is it like to stand in the light?
– I have nothing against the attention, but it’s not exactly like I’m skiing to get attention.
Ebba about the housing plans with the boyfriend
Despite the success, the increased fame and the money that comes with it – Andersson earned millions in just prize money and premiums from the federation this past season – much will remain very similar in Andersson’s life.
She and boyfriend Gustaf Berglund, whom she congratulated with a warm kiss after his victory in the five-mile at the SM, have been a couple since the fall of 2021.
Ebba Andersson kisses boyfriend Gustaf Berglund after his victory in the five-mile at the SM.
Photo: Oliver Åström / Pathology
They live together in an apartment in Östersund and there are still no plans to take the next – in any case – residential step and build a house.
– Then you have to find a plot of land, get a building permit and everything like that, no, it’s far away, says Andersson.
– We haven’t even thought of the idea yet.
She leans back in her armchair and smiles.
– However, I have set up string furniture in the living room where he can keep his things.
A string furniture?
– Yes, it is dedicated to Gustaf, it is his furniture. I have hung my medals there, so that I can always see them regardless of which room I come out of.
But I thought it was his?
– It’s just my little touch, but otherwise the rest is his.
Want Johaug back: “Start a persuasion campaign”
At the same time, there is no time to enjoy for too long. Spring is just around the corner and that means that Andersson will soon be in hard training for the coming season.
A championship-free season.
Does it feel sad considering the form you showed last season?
– No, not really. I’m glad we get a break from the championships, otherwise we’d be like the biathletes. Their seasons always look the same, we have a little more variety.
The next major championship is the WC in Trondheim in two years. A championship that may be very much about one of the stars who previously cast a shadow over Ebba Andersson.
Therese Johaug.
She has officially put the skis on the shelf and this summer she is expecting her first child, but in an interview with Expressen before the season, she opened the door to return to the sport.
– It is not illegal to make a comeback to the WC in Trondheim if I feel like it, she said.
Andersson says that she would not be surprised if the former giant is at the start of the 2024/25 WC season. She wouldn’t mind either – quite the opposite.
– I would have liked to have Therese back.
Do you really mean it?
– All the years I’ve been with them, they’ve aimed at Therese and chased her. Sure, you’ve hit her at some point but never really felt like you took her for granted. So to keep chasing her a bit and see if you can catch her.
Ebba Andersson smiles.
– Now is the time for us to start a persuasion campaign.
