– My first thought was that I wanted to become a skier. I was so dependent on him. He was always the first person I called when I had a question, says Patricija Eiduka. When news sat down with the best Latvian cross-country skier in history a few days before the opening race at Beitostølen in November, it is almost exactly two years since she received the message that turned everyday life upside down. Ingus Eiduks was 61 years old. He wasn’t just her father. He was also her trainer. Suddenly he was gone. THE MOST IMPORTANT SUPPORT PLAYER: Patricija Eiduka was used to doing exactly as dad Ingus said. He died three months before the Olympics. Photo: Private Trainer/athlete relationship worked according to the Russian model. Ingus said what Patricija should do, which usually involved training a lot and hard. And then she did it. – Sometimes there were some really hard interval sessions that I didn’t want to do, but there was no discussion. I had to do it. I didn’t want to, because it was hard, but there was no reason not to do it, she says. Trained under Justyna In 2016 she qualified for the Youth Olympics in Lillehammer. The following year she made her debut in the senior WC in Lahti, aged just 17. In 2018 she made her Olympic debut in Pyeongchang. Eiduka admits that it was challenging to have a father who was also a strict trainer. But: – It seemed very good to me. If my father had not been my coach, I would not have achieved the results I have now, she says in the interview at Beitostølen. THE BIG ROLE MODEL: As a youngster, Patricija Eiduka was a big fan of Justyna Kowalczyk-Tekieli. Photo: Private Latvia did not have a functioning national cross-country team, so in 2019 it became part of the Polish national team. The former great runner Justyna Kowalczyk-Tekieli was a coach there. She was Eiduka’s great role model. – When I was younger, Justyna was the athlete we cheered for, because she was almost the only woman who could fight against the strong Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish runners. So we really cheer for her, says Patricija Eiduka. The Polish training model was no less Russian-inspired than what she was used to from home. – I was ready, and it was good. The training sessions were hard, very hard. But I learned a lot from Justyna, which helps me to develop further. I gained a lot of new knowledge and experience, she says. Died before the Olympics Then Justyna Kowalczyk-Tekieli disappeared. Martin Bajčičák entered. In sporting terms, Eiduka had stagnated. The once promising junior had failed to establish himself as a top 30 runner in the World Cup. All the time, dad Ingus was her closest supporter. When he died on November 2, 2021, just three months before the Olympics in Beijing, on November 2, 2021, Patricija Eiduka did not know what to do. The basis for the cross-country venture disappeared under her feet. But her family and boyfriend convinced her that she still had more to give – I don’t know otherwise. I had probably started studying at university, she says honestly. WC MEDAL: Patricija Eiduka won silver behind Swiss Anja Weber during the U23 WC at Lygna in 2022. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB In the Norwegian team She continued on to Beijing, where she took 23rd place in the classic 10-kilometer race best location. Not a bad result, but two and a half minutes behind the gold medal. A sea of time. Eiduka needed a change and decided to look north. In the north, the Norwegian coaching duo Hans Kristian Stadheim and Jostein Vinjerui sat a little at a loss in what must be described as the ruins of the British national team they had built up. After disappointing results in the Olympics, large parts of the funding disappeared. The money would come. In June 2022, Aker ASA and Dæhlie Sportswear established the private cross-country team Team Aker Dæhlie. It was supposed to accommodate long-distance runners, para athletes – and World Cup runners. And not least, it should consist of skiers from different nations. The British national team became the core of the newly started team. The team also included a young woman from Latvia, who from last winter received full follow-up from the British support apparatus at World Cup races. Now she trains together with strong women such as Sophia Laukli from the USA and Kateřina Janatová from the Czech Republic. Won the U23 jersey Allereie in his first season on the team, Eiduka had a boost. In superb style, she secured the green jersey, which showed that she was the best runner at the under-23 world cup. – Team Aker Dæhlie was very open to me, and they really wanted to help me because I come from a smaller nation without good knowledge of cross-country skiing. So now I can say that I have gained so much more knowledge about cross-country skiing in general. What should the training look like, rest time, ski lubrication and everything else, she says. The new trainers did not manage to adjust her training much before the first season. But towards this winter there have been significant changes. – I’m a little nervous about it, of course, admits Eiduka in the interview at Beitostølen. Two months later we meet her again. This time on top of Alpe Cermis, the alpine hill in Val di Fiemme, which ends the Tour de Ski. She has just finished fifth in the stage and eighth overall in the Tour de Ski. By far her greatest achievement as a cross-country runner – so far. BIG PROGRESS: Patricija Eiduka in the suit that shows she is on a Norwegian team and the starting number that shows she was the best cross-country skier in the world under the age of 23 last winter. Photo: Geir Olsen / NTB “Merkelege” decides And that after a start to the season that was delayed by an injury to the heel. The nervousness and uncertainty she felt at Beitostølen was not diminished by that. Now Patricija Eiduka is smiling broadly. – I am so happy about this, she says, with emphasis on “so”. Then she opens up about what the changes have consisted of. – I’ve never had so much rest before. And there are several intervals in one day. That kind of thing. – Has it been difficult? – Some times, yes. Because the plans and decisions are sometimes a little strange to me, but I just have to trust the process and be patient, she says. Kvilar two days – in a row Jostein Vinjerui stands a little further away and smiles just as slyly. Partly because another Team Aker Dæhlie runner – American Sophia Laukli has just taken her first World Cup winner – but also because Eiduka has received proof that the new system works. – Broadly speaking, not much has changed, he rightly claims. But he in no way endorses what Eiduka says. – It pays off with a few rest days. She has been bad at it before. I hardly think she had a rest day all last year before we met her just before the start of the season. Now she has become good at tickling, says Vinjerui. – How much is he resting now, then? – In between, it can actually be two days in a row. It’s quite new for her. But we try to include a rest day at least every ten to twelfth day. FLY TO THE TOP: Patricija Eiduka. Photo: Gian Ehrenzeller / AP Track dominance Vinjerui also confirms that the mix between relaxed and hard training is different. And that a larger part of the hard training is so-called threshold training, which means that they go at a lower intensity than what Eiduka is used to. – What is it like to work with an athlete who comes from what we in Norway like to call the Russian school? – It is both fun, educational and interesting. And then we see that he grows on what we have believed in by giving the athletes responsibility and independence. Now she largely sets up her own training plans, and then we modify and discuss training with her, as we do with everyone else, says Vinjerui, and adds: – She has an enormous amount of knowledge about training, it’s just that she should get to believe in yourself too. Vinjerui believes that Eiduka, as part of the Norwegian team, can fulfill the dreams she had together with her father Ingus. – Patricija will help dominate cross-country skiing in the next five to six years. I’m sure of that, he says.
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Patricija (23) wanted to give up when her father died – now she gets Norwegian help – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
