The 29-year-old from Drammen beat British Jessica Roberts and Polish Nikola Wielowska, who took the other medals. – It was completely insane. It has been a dream for many years, but the level has become higher and higher, says Stenberg to news. Stenberg has 35 National Championship golds in track cycling and took bronze in the points race during the World Championships in track cycling in 2020. This is her first international gold medal. – There was only one thing I had to do, and that was to trust my gut feeling. I trusted it and it brought me the gold. It was absolutely sick, quite simply, says Stenberg with a broad smile. JUBEL: Here, Anita Stenberg has just realized that the EC gold is hers. Photo: WOLFGANG RATTAY / Reuters She was some way behind for seven laps, before she began to force competitors. – I had a very hard race. It was high speed right away and no one wanted to slow down. When there were seven laps to go I was actually quite far behind. Should I just trust that I came forward, and I came forward. – When there was one lap left, I knew that now is the time to fire it off and pass the others. I timed it perfectly, she says. In Munich, she quickly received a Norwegian flag and her emotions were outside of her cycling suit. – I can hardly understand that I managed it. I’ve had that gut feeling so many times and not trusted it. Then things have gone wrong. I just had to trust it, and either it works or it doesn’t. I had the legs for it and perfect timing. I can’t wait to see it again. It was completely wild, Stenberg follows up. Watch Anita Stenberg’s sprint in the video window above. Adapted training Before the Olympics in Tokyo, Stenberg felt that the training she put in was not producing the results she wanted. She felt that the training plan did not take into account the menstrual cycle, and chose to adapt the training according to where in her cycle she was. It led to fifth place in the Olympics, and now EC gold thanks to the change in training, according to herself. ADAPTED: In recent years, Stenberg’s training program has been adapted to her own menstrual cycle. Photo: Fredrik Mentzoni / Olympiatoppen – It has meant that I have been able to develop in the right way. That training has yielded the results it should, and that I have understood my own body, and my trainer has understood how the training works for me. – We have known when I can train extra hard and when I have to recover, sleep and eat more. It has meant that we have known what to do, and trust the process, explains Stenberg. – The body has responded as it should, because it has received the hard training and received recovery when it should. It has created a good dynamic between me and my trainer. We have understood each other better, she follows up. Stenberg believes that it has been absolutely crucial for her good development in recent years that she changed her training method. – Yes. It has it. Otherwise, I could have been pushed at the wrong time and had faith that the body could be developed, and would not have had the same progress, says Stenberg. – What it’s like to be a girl Together with her coach, the track cyclist mapped her own cycle, and for six months they measured her heart rate and temperature, took urine samples every morning, recorded sleep quality and made a subjective assessment of her mood. The findings showed when in the cycle Stenberg could complete the hardest sessions, and when she needed rest. – We have been doing this for almost two years, and I have taken incredibly big steps in two years. I finished fifth in the Olympics, and now I have won my first EC gold. I think it has been very important that I have had training adapted to me, she explains. JUBILEE: Anita Stenberg with the gold medal. Photo: Carl Andreas Wold / news Nevertheless, she is one of the few female athletes who trains in this way. – There are probably some who may not believe in it. It’s a bit complicated, but at the same time it’s not, says Stenberg. She believes that understanding her own body gives extra motivation. – Now I sometimes know why I get up and don’t feel as well as on other days and am very motivated. Then I know that there is nothing wrong with me, that’s just how it is to be a girl, says Stenberg and concludes: – You are on a level with yourself and understand why you react the way you do, and then you accept it.
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