The International Skiing and Boarding Federation has decided that women and men will walk the same long distances in the coming season. On the women’s side, this means that they must walk 20 kilometers with a change of skis instead of 15 kilometers and 50 kilometers instead of 30 kilometers. – It’s cool as hell, I think. It’s quite a long way, so it will be good, says Frida Karlsson to news. For now, it has only been decided that women and men will walk the same distances in the 2022/23 season. The proposal has received an icy response from several runners, but the Swedes’ high hopes for distance running support it. – I think it suits me. I train a lot for the long distances. I run quite a lot of intervals, and have trained a lot on it. The World Cup in Ruka Friday 24 November: 10.00 Sprint classic, prologue, women and men 12.30 Sprint classic, finals, women and men Saturday 25 November: 11.00 10 kilometer classic, women 12.30 10 kilometer classic, men Sunday 25 November: 12.00 20 Kilometer chase start, freestyle, women 13.30 20 kilometer chase start, freestyle, men You can listen to all races on news Sport. Olympic queen Therese Johaug is very skeptical of the new rules. She feels she has been accused of ruining the sport of cross-country skiing with her superb victories – and believes that even greater distances are now being set up between the athletes. – I think that is rubbish, Karlsson counters firmly. – What then destroys? We were close to her several times, it was never quite obvious that she would win. Clear speech from Johaug – You don’t think this will lead to ruining cross-country skiing in the future? – No, I do not think so. I think there will be exciting duels. When Johaug spoke to news earlier this autumn, she was crystal clear in her speech: – I am very skeptical of the new scheme that FIS has set up. That girls and boys should go the same distance. I feel that for years I have heard that I have ruined the sport with the fact that the time difference has been large and that I have won by too much. The winter’s Olympic queen thought it was a particularly poor response to the declining interest in the sport. – How will you manage to leave a popular sport? When the TV viewers are sitting there and “oh my god, yes, but she’s going to win so much and there’s a big gap between second and third place, or fourth and fifth”. She says it would have suited her very well, but calls for more action and scenes that manage to grab new viewers and that contribute to more excitement. Karlsson gets Swedish support Ebba Andersson is among those the experts designate as one of the top favorites in the season’s distance race without Johaug. She is positive about the changes. HAPPY: Ebba Andersson is looking forward to walking longer distances this winter. Photo: JOHANNA WALLEN / BILDBYRÅN – For us ladies, it will be a step up that we also get to walk 20 kilometres. It’s going to be new. I am optimistic that we will be able to go a little further, says Andersson to news – and adds: – I am of course in favor of FIS wanting to make changes. Then we’ll see if we still want to stick to 10, 20 and 50 kilometres, or if they feel they’re missing 15 and 30 kilometers as well.
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