[ad_1]
YOU HAVE TAKEN ACTION: Johannes Høsflot Klæbo takes many precautions to reduce the risk of corona infection. Photo: Geir Olsen, NTB
LILLEHAMMER (VG) Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (24) and cohabitant Pernille Døsvik are in “an eternal quarantine” to avoid corona infection.
– I’m mostly at home. Sad to say, but she is forced to live like me. It is not appropriate for her to go to school. She is studying to become an engineer at NTNU. Now there has been a new case of infection in the engineering line laboratory. That’s why I can’t take that risk there, the ski superstar tells VG.
– So, if Pernille didn’t want to live like you, did you have to do something?
– So I had to live somewhere else, yes. It’s that easy.
COHABITANTS: Klæbo is in love with Pernille Døsvik. Photo: Private
Offensive in the head
Many athletes are concerned about the upcoming season, which includes 41 races, including the World Cup in Oberstdorf, but Klæbo stands out.
You have actively worked with your thoughts to be positive about both abnormal everyday life and the changes that are likely to occur suddenly in the coming months.
– I have tried to force myself to be offensive thinking that new things can happen. If you make a plan and then everything changes, you can get a little “on your heel” and maybe get discouraged, but I try to take advantage of those situations. You just have to always try to turn it into something positive, says Klæbo.
High risk of infection
In 2018, Trøndelag became the youngest World Cup winner overall (21 years old). The following year, he notably repeated the feat. In his first Olympics, Klæbo took home three golds, before entering three new World Cup golds in Seefeld last year. At the age of 24, the ski phenomenon has also won the Tour de Ski. Unique achievements make him the biggest star in skiing, but he’s still hungry for more. Much more.
– The last thing I want is to get covid-19. The long-term effects are not known. The risk of racing travel will be there in the future, and it will be much higher this year than before. I will evaluate that risk weekend to weekend, depending on where we are going to travel, the load, etc. I plan to ski for several years. So I think you have to be cynical, and I’ve been cynical since it started, says Klæbo.
– It will be demanding for me, it will be demanding for the unions and no less for the families of the people at home. Because we are going to live in eternal quarantine.
THE FIRST OLYMPIC GOLD: Klæbo took the first Olympic gold of his career during the sprint in South Korea in 2018. Federico Pellegrino, Aleksandr Bolshunov and Pål Golberg followed behind. Photo: Bjørn S. Delebekk, VG
Has taken action
To minimize the risk of infection as much as possible, Klæbo and those closest to him have decided to take several measures. Personally, he is hardly ever in physical contact with friends. He has also cut treatments with physical therapists. He stays mainly at home and outdoors on the training courts.
The same applies to the partner. Døsvik is not physically at school, but follows the teaching digitally, from home. If he rarely had to be physically with friends, he goes home to his parents on what Klæbo describes as “safe days” to see if he develops symptoms of infection or not.
– You can’t walk and think about it, but you almost hurt yourself by putting others in such a situation. At the same time, I sincerely believe that I must be very careful. Because you don’t know how this virus will develop. At least I’m going to sit here and say that I’ve tried my best not to make it. And if I do, there’s nothing else I could have done, says Klæbo.
VG is informed that his girlfriend has been informed that he is commenting on the measures. Your immediate family is also more protective against the virus. These include Father Haakon, Mother Elisabeth, and Brother Ola. It helps to reduce the risk of infection also for Klæbo himself, the times he is close to them. He says the only one in the family who doesn’t just stay home is his sister Ane, who teaches at a high school.
Brother Ola also recently landed a record deal with Sony Music:
Meet grandpa
Grandfather and coach Kåre Høsflot (77) is in the so-called risk group due to age. He also lives a sheltered life.
– We may not sit as close as we have before, but we agree that there will be a greater risk to him going to the gym than meeting me because of the way I live. He participates in the sessions, but we don’t sit at each other’s house as much as we used to. We do more over the phone. But he drives with me in the car when I finish the intervals, so we meet, says Klæbo.
FATHER AND SON: Klæbo junior and senior photographed during «Ski Tour 2020» in February. Photo: Bjørn S. Delebekk, VG
As usual, the 24-year-old works hard with his physical and technical abilities as a cross-country skier, but he also talks a lot with Daddy Haakon about the importance of a positive mindset.
– There is no doubt that I train a lot with Dad. He’s the one I talk to the most, along with Grandpa. Dad has also been careful from day one to be careful. He is never willing to do anything. I’m not often at home, but I still see Dad quite often, says Klæbo.
It will be in action for the first time this season during the opening of the World Cup in Ruka on Friday 27 November.
Last year, Klæbo beat all the competitors in the season premiere in Finland, which you can see here:
