Releases book about the journey towards the WC gold
Published 2024-03-28 10.44
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A menstrual kiss.
This is how Ebba Andersson described herself after an unsuccessful race around New Year’s.
What everyone missed was that the expression was not only negative.
- Skier Ebba Andersson releases the autobiography “From Olympic storm to WC gold” on April 30. The book contains personal reflections on her training and health, including how lack of menstruation affected her performance.
- After ignoring signs of overtraining, Andersson changed her diet and recovery, which resulted in the return of her periods and a marked improvement in her performance.
- Andersson hopes her book can help other young athletes take their health more seriously and not ignore signs like irregular periods.
ⓘ The summary is made with the support of AI tools from OpenAI and quality assured by Aftonbladet. Read our AI policy here.
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It’s been a sweaty day.
First, Ebba Andersson skied to the SM gold in the three mile, then she threw on dry clothes, rushed out into the tracks and cheered little brother Fredrik on to bronze in the five mile. She has her breath in her throat. Dry cough in mobile.
– At first I thought, well, what do I have to tell you? But after some thought, I felt that yes, I have something to offer. It was a special year, she says.
The grumble resulted in the autobiography “From Olympic storm to WC gold”, the audiobook that is being released on Storytel 30 April. The scope is small, but the 71 script pages are dense and packed with memories, emotions and training analyses.
Shouldn’t she have had more pressure?
Ebba starts in the Olympic three-mile in Zhangjiakou, 20 miles northeast of Beijing 2022. In minus 17 degrees and gusty winds, the 24-year-old thundered towards a safe bronze medal. The gap back was 24 seconds with just over a kilometer to go.
Then the wind picked up. A gust of wind was about to knock her over. She parried but lost momentum, pushed further forward, embraced by the next crosswind. On the run, she managed to smell sweet medal scents before the group behind whizzed past: Niskanen, Sundling, Sorina, Brennan, Claudel.
Ebba Andersson finished eighth. The bottom fell out of her, the look blackened, disappointment is too soft a word. It was all the fault of the bad weather.
Or?
With the games a few months away, Ebba Andersson analyzed the winter. Of course she was unlucky in the most important race, but the weather was kinder in ten classic (sixth) and skiathlon (tenth). Considering the brilliant pre-season, the records she broke in the tests, shouldn’t she have more pressure in the riding?
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fullscreen chevron-rightnextEbba Andersson during the 30 kilometer race in the 2022 Olympics.
1 / 2Photo: Jon Olav Nesvold / Bildbyrån
“I fire for the crows”
In the middle of the investigation, some thoughts were born: hadn’t the national team doctor warned that certain values pointed to overtraining as early as 2021? And hadn’t it been several years since she had her period?
– The first time it didn’t come, I reacted. It was a bit strange. But I understood that it happens to many elite athletes, it’s a natural mechanism if you push the body hard, so I found acceptance in it. No period, nothing strange. I was able to train, I thought I ate what I needed, continued to develop, everything was tough, says Ebba Andersson.
Men?
– Then came the point. Damn, I’m on fire for the crows. I invest so much time and effort and get so little effect.
And then it wasn’t time to stand and wave test values?
– Really not. It became frustrating that the training did not generate more, as during the Olympic year.
In the book, it sounds like you adopted the elite athlete’s approach to the matter: I will succeed! I will fight to get my period back!
– Yes, it turned out that way. I would receive nutrition and recovery on site.
“Enough with eating and sleeping clocks”
She made appointments for nutritional counseling and gynecology, talked for hours with her mental coach. The picture gradually became clearer: she was third overall in the World Cup, she had not finished at the bottom, but the path she had set out was probably not going to lead to any individual championship golds.
It was the spring of 2022 and the hour of change had come.
– I couldn’t just think about training. That wasn’t where things went wrong.
FACT
Elite sports and menstruation
Menstrual loss is often considered to be something normal during hard training, but it is not. It is an effect of hard training and that the athlete eats too little or too low-energy food.
Weight loss that leads to menstrual disorder may initially be performance-enhancing. In the long run, however, it leads to injuries and performance degradation.
Menstrual disorders are more common in elite sports students at National Sports High Schools than in young people in general. It is most common in sports where body weight is important for performance.
Studies show that daily form and sports performance can be affected by the menstrual cycle and hormonal contraceptives. For example, some women experience better performance during the middle and end of the follicular phase (the first day of bleeding – day one of the cycle – and until ovulation).
Picked up from RF Sisu’s website.
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full screen Ebba Andersson’s autobiography “From Olympic storm to WC gold” is released on Storytel on April 30. Photo: Storytel
Did you start loading more pasta on the plate?
– On the occasions when it was needed. But above all, I became more careful with the amount and timing of the intake around the training sessions. The snacks too.
Did you force yourself to bed at nine thirty?
– No, I have to have a life. We have enough with eating and sleeping hours anyway, so it must not be extreme. I looked more at recovery between sessions and having a reasonable level of training load.
A long victory march
The victory came quickly and unexpectedly. Already in May, she bled again.
– The fact that I got my period back was the same as my body being on the track again, I thought. But it took more time than that. We checked other hosts that did not respond as quickly, so more time was needed. I would train hard, but not foolishly.
You write that the values in September 2022 were better. Was that the turning point?
– It was a confirmation that the changes had yielded results, but I still didn’t feel that I had improved as a skier. Only when I got on snow did the pieces of the puzzle fall into place.
It must have been a kick.
– Yes. Only then did WC gold become seriously attainable. Until then, the gold thoughts were more inspiring than anything I really believed.
The 2022–23 season was a success tour. First and second in the premiere in Ruka, double victories in Les Rousses, big winner in Toblach.
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full screen Ebba Andersson Photo: Storytel
Hold off and win
The climax was almost too obvious in its symbolism.
Fourth of March 2023, WC in Planica, new three mile. Just before the start, coach Ingrid Vikman set out in search of the missing Ebba Andersson.
“She looked everywhere and found me crouched behind the knot on a small building, where no one could see me, a little way from the starting area just a couple of minutes before it was time.
‘But God Ebba, now you mustn’t miss the start!’
‘Oh, is it that late?’ I said as I stood up and straightened my pants. I had pulled away to put in a new panty liner at the last minute – I had gotten my period again a few days ago – which I was quite happy with as usual. It was proof that my body was in balance” writes Ebba Andersson in her autobiography.
In the race she was chased again by Niskanen, Brennan and the Norwegians. But this time she persevered and won WC gold by almost a minute’s margin.
Big differences in climate
On the mobile phone from the just concluded SM competitions in Boden, Ebba Andersson tries to wriggle out of the given question:
If you hadn’t changed your mind after the 2022 Olympics, would you be doomed to a career of steady third-to-sixth places?
– I’m not one to speculate. No clue.
Men?
– But if I’m going to knock into that corner, I don’t think I would have been sitting with two WC golds (Andersson also won the skiathlon in Planica 2023).
Ebba Andersson debuted in the World Cup in 2015 and has been an anchor in the national team for six years. In Swedish winter sports, it is a short period, yet she can see big differences.
– We talk more and more about this sort of thing. I experience it as more open than when I joined the national team, but whether it has to do with my maturity or the climate in the team, I leave it unsaid.
Do you hope that your book will help younger skiers dare to discuss health issues?
– I’ll make an attempt anyway. When I didn’t have periods for periods, I felt somewhat ashamed. Or accepted although there were question marks about whether I was in the right place in health status. It was so easy to wave it off, because the training was great and I felt strong. Better that we normalize and get more people talking about periods.
“It went fine”
What advice do you give young elite athletes who experience irregular periods?
– Take it more seriously. I would have needed some type of information, because you are busy developing and increasing your investment. But if menstruation is absent or irregular, it is a sign of something. What’s behind it? I myself have felt the effect when it became regular again.
In what way does it feel different?
– It is not the period itself, but it is a sign that I have balance in my physical status. It is important to get into the performance state.
Wait. You said something after a terrible sprint qualifier on the tour last time.
– Yes, I felt like a fucking period kiss. In the year that the book is about, I had only experienced positive effects, but later I have noticed that it is not always positive. I have experienced real period pain too.
I appreciated the statement because it was so direct. But then there was a background, a positive aspect in the big picture, even if it bothered you that day?
– Exactly. At the time it affected me negatively, but there is also a pride in being able to tell. I’ve been on the other side and know it’s worse.
I am neither an elite athlete, a skier nor menstruating. So is it possible to compete just as well when you are bleeding?
You can hear Ebba Andersson stifling a laugh through the handset. Then the new Swedish champion answers matter-of-factly.
– I drove with my period today too. It went fine.
FACT
Coming at the end of April
The autobiography “From Olympic storm to World Cup gold” (Ebba Andersson and Marie-Anne Knutas) will be released on Storytel on April 30.
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2024-03-29 03:48:39
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