After the fourth place in the five-mile in the WC, Calle Halfvarsson admitted that he was better than ever, but for that he had not been paid very well.
It was in Slovenian Planica that the first individual championship medal of his career was to be won at the end of last winter. It didn’t happen and in the disappointment afterwards he hinted that the season could be his last.
– It took quite a long time before I could let it go. There was a lot of thought, says Calle Halfvarsson a little over six months later.
– I had a pass there in Falun when I got home from the WC – and damn how hard it was to motivate myself to get out and train. I remember going there and thinking: “What am I doing? It’s just as well I’m screwing this up now.”
William Poromaa took WC bronze in the five-mile in Planica, just under half a second ahead of Calle Halfvarsson. Photo: Petter Arvidson/Bildbyrån
On 24 November a new World Cup circus begins, starting in Finnish Ruka, and 14 years after the debut, Calle Halfvarsson is still there again.
– Somehow I was able to go further, he says.
Calle Halfvarsson was a WC medalist in both the sprint and the longer distances. In the five-mile, only four tenths separated him from the bronze, which instead went to compatriot William Poromaa – but Halfvarsson tried to see it more as he was 1.6 seconds off Norwegian Pål Golberg’s gold time.
– I had a good day, but the victory had been difficult. Golberg did so damn well, so I tried to tell myself afterwards that, sure, it would have been damn fun with a medal, but it would have been tougher if you felt that the mistakes at the end caused me to miss out on a gold. That’s how I got to thinking.
William Poromaa and Calle Halfvarsson at an introductory meeting before the ski season. Photo: Maxim Thoré/Bildbyrån
Halfvarsson continues:
– It was hard, but I moved on from it anyway. I processed it that way. Now I don’t think about it at all, but then I felt bad.
The bang was definite one of the heaviest he has experienced as an athlete, on a par with being beaten by Petter Northug on the last leg of the men’s relay in the WC in Falun 2015.
– This was comparable to that. Almost worse.
The experience that, after all, he is skiing faster than ever was ultimately what weighed the most.
– It feels boring to quit as long as you are hanging in there at the top.
However, the fact that the investment continues beyond a championship-free season does not automatically mean that it will also continue beyond the WC in Trondheim 2025.
Or?
– Haha, yes… we’ll see how it turns out. I’m taking it one season at a time, but I hope to continue beyond the WC in Norway.
Facts. The Swedish premiere in cross-country skiing in Gällivare
Friday 17 November
Sprint men and women (classic), prologue 8.45, final session 11.20
Saturday 18 November
Men’s 10 km (classic, interval start) 11.05
Ladies 10 km (classic, interval start) 12.05
Sunday 19 November
Men’s 10 km (freestyle, interval start) 10.50
Ladies 10 km (freestyle, interval start) 12.05
All competitions are broadcast on SVT
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2023-11-16 05:03:07
#Halfvarsson #medal #Damn #hard #motivate
