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– I think you were surprised that things have changed so much for me after coming home from the World Cup. She was not prepared for that. Your job is to remind me of how things have been over the last year. There you have a good point, Sundby tells NRK about how his wife put him against the wall.
– Makes demands clearer than those he has made. Now I only bet on the coolest long runs next season and I have to handle that plan so she can demand hers too.
In the latest episode of the NRK documentary about the 36-year-old, the viewer gets a glimpse of the feelings associated with a long and meaningful career in traditional cross-country skiing coming to an end, the discussions about the future, and the final decision. in the Sundby family.
NRK TV: End of season “Sundby against the world”: WC and the way forward
Set on the wall
Before the championship in Oberstdorf, Sundby had told his wife Marieke Heggeland that the 15 kilometers in the WC would be his last real ski race.
But after all the adversity, the rebound changed a lot. It becomes apparent during an argument between the two a few weeks after their return to Oslo.
– Before the World Cup, you were so sure what to do. Then you come home and it’s like you have a revelation, and you shouldn’t. It’s almost as if she thinks she has some Alzheimer’s, Heggeland says, and suggests that her husband has had reduced memory lately.
Martin Johnsrud Sundby and his eldest son Max and Markus (right), here chatting in the bathroom after the World Cup.
Photo: Sondre Matre / NRK
– But you can’t be too tired to follow the boys. He is not allowed to walk and be half stressed because he has not been trained, is the clear message.
Sundby is calm. But try to explain why you want to start another year as a cross-country skier:
– It was hard to feel that, despite the injury and my back, I am very good at skiing. We agree on one thing. We agreed on that before I left.
Long distance bet
– And that is? Heggeland asks.
– There will be no commitment to the Olympics, reveals Sundby in the documentary.
Then the veteran explains what the plan is.
– We took a slightly different path. If I go cross country. Then it is no longer about medals and grades. And then I do the long runs so I can perform my best there. I have said that there will be a change. It will be there anyway. And I think you will be happy with those changes.
After a few seconds, they both agree that long-distance running is the way for Sundby to go.
He announced that he had run his last race.
So Sundby had decided to leave in February. He says today that he has felt the sensation of being carried from bulwark to bulwark as a result of the much-talked about back problems that have plagued him for nearly two seasons.
GAVE IT ALL: Martin Johnsrud Sundby crossed the finish line to what became a seventh place.
Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB
Motivation has severely eroded. In discussions with his wife before the World Cup, it was clear to him that there would be no more cross-country skiing.
– And that the World Cup was the last dance. When I trained on Tuesday night before the 15km World Championship, I thought it was the last session I had with a goal in mind. I was mentally done.
But something happened in no time. According to Sundby, the reflections began already within the next 24 hours after the race.
He was just 20 seconds behind Harald Østberg Amundsen in bronze. Overseas teammates, experts and competitors were impressed with what he accomplished. He was and is himself.
– There will be no more. Such an idiot that I am. It was very inspiring, even though I have had the year that I have had. It wasn’t far from a podium spot at the World Cup. He went around a lot. At the same time, I can’t completely run out of a story about what happened in the last year.
The family can support long-distance investment.
One of the findings is that the body will not tolerate the race that must be put before the Olympics. The family prerequisite means that optimizing the height, qualifying requirements for races, to name a few, is a race you dare not embark on.
– And Marieke doesn’t deserve it either. But I don’t feel finished, says Sundby, who is dumbfounded by his admiration for his wife and how he has managed in the last year with three children and a man who is a great athlete.
MORE TIME FOR THE FAMILY: The time after the World Cup has been quiet and Sundby has had more time for little family outings. Like here, in the sleigh with his wife.
Photo: Sondre Matre
However, he believes that a distance commitment is a new challenge that is within his grasp and it is a scheme in which he involves his own team at home.
– Now I have the opportunity to specialize in something new for a longer period. The challenge is to stay motivated in that training and find new ways to train. Nor do I in any way believe that I can only hope to reach those who have been in the long-distance circus for a long time.
– I have to spend time on that. I know many in that environment and I will try to seek knowledge from them. I think this will be fun and super exciting, says Sundby, ready for all-new adventures this spring.
