A place on the World Cup podium was the result of Jansrud last season. It is not the everyday food for one of Norway’s most deserving mountaineers. He is the first to admit it was heavy.
When NTB asked if he could explain what was wrong, Jansrud replied:
– It’s very complex. I came out of a season last year where I felt there were little things that were not lacking in more areas. I skied technically and felt uncomfortable in training situations.
– If I compare with the intuition I had in previous years, I have the impression that I am not good enough for that. This is perhaps the most difficult situation I have been in as an athlete. If you come back from an injury, you can still tell yourself that you need time. Skiing badly is not a very cool thing to do, adds the boy from Vinstra.
Heavy phones
When meeting NTB outside the Vigelandsparken in Oslo, a few steps from the house where he has settled with his partner Benedikte and daughter Frøya, a smile is in order as usual.
At the same time, Jansrud admits he felt responsible to those at home when it was brutal like the worst last winter.
– It’s very easy to accept that you are not good enough because someone else has taken steps, but you add that you are far from the family and the children, and that passion and hobby to daddy obliged to go to work… Benedikte I would rather be at home, and I understand that too, and then it’s not fun, says the alpine profile and continues:
– Then to pick up the phone at home and say that things don’t go the way I want, I felt better. I think it was uncomfortable. Then you are faced with two choices. Either you have to stop your career and be a dad, or you have to take action and change something. This is where we are now.
When asked if he plans to end his career, the 36-year-old replies that it might have been tempting to do so, but he was never quite like that. The goal is to end a high performance, content-rich sporting life, which will likely end by spring, in style.
Success at the Beijing Olympics in a few months is high on the wish list. Then there can be a farewell run back home to Kvitfjell.
Cleared the road
The prerequisites to end a successful career are therefore absolutely present. The issues that characterized last season have been resolved and hopefully cleared up.
– I feel that the changes I have made on my part have been very good. I feel in a completely different place now than at this time last year. They’re a bit delicious, Jansrud smiles.
Concretely, he notably seized the equipment. This work already started in March, when it became clear that something had to be done.
– It paid off, I think. And then we made some changes to the bare field training. We had a slightly different focus. It will be very technical. so it’s not that exciting, but overall it gave me a really good fall. I feel in a completely different place.
– Do you sound very positive?
– I’m very positive too. With my merits this should indicate that I ski fast too, but here is a “warning” from me. There are no guarantees here, and I’m not sure my intuition now matches what I had three years ago; that on a good day I continue anyway, and on a bad day you’re still in the top five, says Jansrud.
Too old?
The uncertainty he feels concerns age, among other things.
– The concern here is that I am getting too old. It’s a bit like 40-year-olds playing volleyball and smoking their Achilles tendon. They feel like they’re completely king, and then there is a misstep and then it breaks. That’s where the concern lies, that you simply don’t have what you need anymore, Jansrud laughs – and hastens to add:
– But you are also a little stubborn as an athlete, so for now I feel that there is something to be gained.
Jansrud gets the first clue about his position against the world elite in Lake Louise, Canada. There is a speed race in the World Cup on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Then it progresses step by step until the high point of the season, the Beijing Olympics in February. This will be Jansrud’s fifth and last Olympic Games. He has won medals in the previous four.
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