Swedish Sprint Opener This Weekend: Peter Larsson Skiing For Gold In Mora And Turin

This weekends Mora sprint opener will be an indication if Swedish sprint star Peter Larsson can reach this winters ambitious goals. — I’m aiming for Olympic gold and as many World Cup victories as possible, says Larsson

Source: Skidsport.com/Glid

Peter Larsson is aiming high and can in his best moments win any World Cup race. He has won the Düsseldorf race three years in a row. He has skied poorly twice in the Mora sprint ahead of winning in Germany.

— I usually race badly in Mora and then hit a super peak in Düsseldorf, says Peter who wants to win in Mora as well this year.

— My attitude is that I want to win even in Mora. You need to believe in yourself, if not is no reason to train for this sport.

Peter was hampered by a virus that didn’t let go for six month following last year’s victory in Düsseldorf.

– I had no energy and couldn’t train. I was given the green light to start training again at the end of March. The training has gone well since then, but I’m still not in the same great shape as I was at the same time last year reveals Peter Larsson.

Peter joined the Sprint team at the camp in Indre on Wednesday. He is now fine-tuning ahead of the World Cup opener the following weekend under new head coach Inge Brathen guidelines.

– The confidence in Brathen is 100%. He knows his stuff and knows what he wants, says Larsson.

The weeks ahead of the October sprints have been very tough:

– I can promise you that we are giving it everything we can. I believe in lots of progress in both Olympics and World Cup if I can stay healthy. I have capacity. They key is to hit it right, just like I do in Düsseldorf, laughs Larsson.

He is up against former World sprint champion Thobias Fredriksson, teammate Bjorn Lind and other national team skiers in this weekends Mora sprint.

— The competition is very tough. That’s good for everyone; we need that if we are going to be on the podium in international races, says Larsson who’s very capable of skiing well in traditional races as well. He even hopes to race Vasaloppet in a couple years:

– I raced it in 1999 and that was not very successful and I was beaten by three women. But I will come back strong. Vasaloppet is big and everyone wants to win it, says Larsson between his workouts in Indre.

The club in Mora has put out some of the snow for the 800-meter long sprint loop at this point. — We have everything under control and is hoping for a great event on Sunday, says chief of race Johan Eriksson.