Calle Halfvarsson charges up for the Olympics with TCS Lidingöloppet

Last year he was at the starting line of the TCS Lidingöloppet for the first time in 17 years - the first time as a senior. Now, the cross-country skiing star Calle Halfvarsson has developed a taste for it and is lining up for the second year in a row for the 30 km in preparation for the upcoming Olympic season. “Who knows, maybe I'll make a dedicated Lidingöloppet effort after my career,” says Calle Halfvarsson.

An extremely important winter awaits Calle Halfvarsson - the Olympics in Milan and Cortina are just under half a year away. He is now fully charging up for the ski season premiere by running the TCS Lidingöloppet 30 km on September 27th.

“I got a taste for it last year. I've always thought that the Lidingöloppet is a fun race, even when I was little. It's a nice festival atmosphere. But I almost hit the wall in the last five kilometers last year, so I thought I would never run it again. But with some distance from the race, you get the urge. It's a good workout before the winter,” he says.

It's not uncommon to see quite a few skiers at the Lidingöloppet, who also tend to rank quite high. Last year, Halfvarsson finished in 49th place with a time of 1:52:44.

“As soon as you put on the bib number, you naively think: now I'm going to compete for this. But at the same time, the competition up there is so good - so I had three goals last year: To finish in the top 50, go under 2 hours, and win the women's class. But Carolina Wikström (who won last year) passed me towards the end, so it ended up being two out of three goals achieved anyway,” he says.

Calle Halfvarsson has been fully committed to improving his performance from 2024, but has been a bit more hesitant in the last week leading up to the race.

“I haven't exactly had an ideal preparation. I felt good a week ago, but then I've had a cold for a few days. So we'll see. I have about a week now to get into shape,” he says.

How do you feel about running in general? Can you switch to it after your skiing career?

- If one reduces some of the upper body bulk, perhaps. I find running enjoyable, it's a fun way to exercise. You never know. Maybe I'll make a wholehearted commitment to the Lidingö Race in a year or so, he says.