We already knew that Frida Karlsson was not at her best when the ski WC in Planica started in February. What she has not been open about, however, was that she was about to miss the championship due to a car crash before the previous World Cup competition in Toblach.
– Five days before the last World Cup, the last World Cup race, I manage to crash with the car, she reveals in an interview on Sveriges Radio and confirms that it was not a small crash.
No one is said to have been seriously injured, but the cars that collided were both scrapped.
– Considering that it was still quite a serious collision, it went well for both me and him, says Frida Karlsson, who takes responsibility for the accident and continues:
– He lost because he was going to sell the car the next day.
the 23-year-old says that she had sensations in her neck and suffered a mild concussion. Despite the advice against taking part in the World Ski Championships, Karlsson chose to give it a try in Planica.
Photo: Christine Olsson/TT
After his Tour de Ski victory earlier that winter, Karlsson caught a cold and had a hard enough time getting in shape for the championship as it was, and the car crash thus worsened an already critical situation.
Nevertheless, there were two silvers, one in the skiathlon and one in ten kilometers, as well as two bronzes, one in the relay and one in the final three-mile, for Frida Karlsson in the WC.
– The feeling before was just: “I really feel pissed off when I go, does that even make sense?”, she says and continues:
– When I take the silver in the skiathlon in the first race, it feels like a real victory, that I did it and managed to turn around from the bottom. It was a great WC in many ways.
The car crash was not the first time that the accident happened to Frida Karlsson and her opportunities in the ski track were jeopardized.
Photo: Petter Arvidson/Bildbyrån
Her physical status came into focus, for example, when she was banned from competition by the Swedish Skiing Association in 2019 after a missed health check, when she injured her bottom in 2021 after doing chins on a door frame during the Tour de Ski and when she fainted after finishing when she won the tour last winter.
That’s why she chose to lie low this time.
– I’m starting to get a little tired of things always happening around me. I don’t understand if people keep quiet about everything that happens to them or if it’s just me who is extremely clumsy, says Frida Karlsson.
In total, Sweden took twelve medals during the WC in Planica (four gold, three silver and five bronze), which meant the best championship ever.
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