She is the spider in the web in what is described as the foundation of team spirit in the group.
But then Mona Brorsson has also been with the longest.
The 33-year-old entered in the national team when Swedish women’s biathlon was at the bottom. The team was in radio shadow, but a couple of years after the missed Olympic trip to Sochi, the foundations were laid for a new era of glory.
– At our first WC (2015), we came eight in the relay and celebrated like we had won, says Brorsson and laughs.
– It was like the starting shot.
Image 1 of 3 Linn Persson, Mona Brorsson, Anna Magnusson and Hanna Öberg step into the world’s top during the Olympics in Pyeongchang 2018, with a relay silver. Photo: Jon Olav Nesvold/Bildbyrån Image 2 of 3 Mona Brorsson ten years ago – when the competition in the women’s team was completely different. Photo: Robert Henriksson/TT Image 3 of 3 “I don’t know if it’s a different atmosphere in other teams, but because we train so much with each other, we get this respect for each other,” says Linn Persson, far left. Archive image. Photo: Fredrik Sandberg/TT
From that relay team Admittedly, only Brorsson and Anna Magnusson are in this year’s WC squad. But the duo is completed in Czech Nove Mesto with multiple championship medalists Elvira Öberg, Hanna Öberg and Linn Persson.
When the WC’s individual races start on Friday, the Swedes are perhaps more even than ever.
The overall World Cup rankings? Five (E Öberg), twelve (Brorsson), 13 (H Öberg), 15 (Persson) and 16 (Magnusson).
A good day all five have podium potential in a sprint.
The “problem” in the WC? Only four are allowed to start.
Facts. The Swedish women’s WC
Elvira Öberg
Placement in the overall World Cup: 5.
Best individual World Cup result of the winter: 1st (pursuit start).
… and best sprint result: 2nd.
Mona Brorsson
Placement in overall World Cup: 12th.
Best individual World Cup result of the winter: 2nd (sprint).
… and best sprint result: 2nd.
Hanna Öberg
Placement in overall World Cup: 13.
Best individual World Cup result of the winter: 3rd (mass start).
… and best sprint result: 14th.
Lynn Persson
Placement in overall World Cup: 15th.
Best individual World Cup result of the winter: 6th (pursuit start).
… and best sprint result: 7th.
Anna Magnusson
Placement in overall World Cup: 16.
Best individual World Cup result of the winter: 4th (sprint).
… and best sprint result: 4th.
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The sprint team is presented on Thursday.
– You could never have imagined this ten years ago, says Mona Brorsson about the internal competition.
– But it has become something that we have had to work with within the team.
She continues:
– We, especially the girls, have worked together and had a lot of conversations about it. Really talked about it. We try to actively work with the mental side but also ventilate different scenarios.
Five Swedish ladies are in the top 16 in the overall World Cup ahead of the WC. Veteran Mona Brorsson is the second best Swede in twelfth. Archive image. Photo: Anders Wiklund/TT
The sprint and the women’s relay will be the most competitive WC races in 2024. In the distance, all five Swedish women will start thanks to Hanna Öberg’s gold last year. The pursuit start is based on the sprint, and the mass start on, among other things, World Cup position.
The work to create a team spirit despite the tough internal situation began together with the national team’s mental advisor Göran Kenttä, says star Hanna Öberg.
– But now we continue to work on it a lot ourselves and take it on our own initiative.
– You should definitely feel disappointed if you don’t get to drive, but at the same time be able to support those who get to drive. It’s super important.
As well as Mona Brorsson as Anna Magnusson talks about set “rules of the game”.
When new skaters join the team, they must be trained in the same way of thinking. Elvira Öberg, newest member of the WC women’s team, remembers what it was like.
– It was something you were allowed to learn, she says and laughs.
For example, what could it be?
– For example, that you meet in the goal net after a relay – regardless of how it goes. And if you are a reserve, you make sure to support the one who is last in, while the one who is last in must support the reserve.
Elvira Öberg during a press conference in Nove Mesto. Photo: Petter Arvidson/Bildbyrån
Anna Magnusson fills in:
– I think we have set up fairly clear guidelines for how we want it to be in the group. We did that several years ago. We try to keep up with them.
Are they even in print?
– No, but we have scheduled meetings where everyone can talk through how they feel.
– We are quite open with each other and have a great understanding of how the situation is. For example, that you can have two feelings at the same time. You can allow yourself to be disappointed that you don’t get to go, but at the same time also be happy for the person who gets to go. It doesn’t have to be either or.
“I think we have set up fairly clear guidelines for how we want it in the group,” says Anna Magnusson, here during a World Cup competition in Antholz earlier this winter. Photo: Jonas Lindkvist
Coach Johannes Lukas says he is proud of how the women’s team is handling the situation.
– We talk a lot about “what should our team look like?” Where is the limit? How do you behave in a group after selections?”.
– I think it is very important when we travel around as a family 180 days a year. Then there must be rules of the game, for everyone.
The strong cohesion does not come for free, however, Mona Brorsson is careful to point out. It must be nurtured, but has its foundation in the journey to the women’s collective breakthrough – the relay silver in the 2018 Olympics.
– Before our first Olympics, when we were still not “anyone”, we went there with the idea that we are better as a team than as individuals, says Brorsson.
– After that it was like “we can build on this”.
That the riders know each other outside and inside is the key, continues Linn Persson. All of them both train and live in Östersund:
– I don’t know if it’s a different atmosphere in other teams, but because we train so much with each other, we get this respect for each other.
“You should definitely feel disappointed if you don’t get to drive, but at the same time be able to support those who get to drive. It is super important,” says Hanna Öberg. Photo: Jonas Lindkvist
Last year took Linn Persson WC bronze in just sprint, and colleague Hanna Öberg silver. This World Cup winter, the best medalist duo has been seventh and 14th respectively in the discipline, but Mona Brorsson and Elvira Öberg have finished second, and Anna Magnusson fourth.
How confident are you about starting?
– Not so sure of course because there are five of us who are up there, says Linn Persson.
– They (the national team management) could take out or not take out almost anyone of us, with good arguments.
Guide. Biathlon World Cup Thursday 8 February
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Everything before the Biathlon World Cup in Nove Mesto – programme, Swedish medal chances and snacks
2024-02-08 05:02:03
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