In Part I of our interview with Sophia Laukli, FasterSkier caught up with her before she had returned to the Golden Trail Series Tour, and discussed the ups and downs of the difficult summer she had. We’ll continue our discussion with Laukli about the upcoming race season but first, we need to bring readers up to date with how she fared in the Golden Trail Series finals, and how she is feeling after her summer of relentless challenges.
In last Thursday’s prologue portion of the final’s race, Laukli had one of the more solid performances she has had all summer, and felt better than she had in months. After the prologue, she told FasterSkier: “Definitely on the right track in terms of feelings, compared to earlier this summer.” She finished fourth in the seven kilometer prologue and was within sight of the winner. Last Saturday, the finals continued with the 23.5 kilometer race.
The 23.5 final on Saturday went well for her, though she didn’t dominate like she had last year. Laukli finished sixth, but was only a little over a minute off the podium, which might be a good barometer of how she is doing physically. Full results can be found here. It was a nice rebound performance and should serve to remove most of the sour taste of this last season.
After the race, Laukli share her observations with FasterSkier. “Yesterday’s race was decent but I realized pretty quickly that maybe I should not have done the prologue. My legs were totally dead so it made for a very tough and long race. I’m confident the fitness and ski shape is still good, but that doesn’t translate to back to back running races for me…I have done a lot of roller skiing, and not much running, so I guess it’s not the biggest shock. I’m definitely happy I raced the finals, but I think if I wanted to have my best performance before the season end, I should have committed to just doing the final long race.” It’s positive news for American ski fans that Laukli is back to feeling good and having strong race results. Her result might be a little bit off from last year, but not all of it rests with her physical condition. ” I think the biggest thing though is that the field is so deep and so much higher this year. It was honestly one of my better races even though the legs were super heavy, but I’ve had much worse races where I’ve still ended 2nd or 3rd, or even won. I would say I’m close to last year’s level and maybe still improved, it’s just hard to see that in the results.”
At the end of the day, the decision to race looks like it proved to be the right move for Laukli, and it was definitely the right step psychologically. “So all in all, it’s super motivating for next year but I have a lot of improvement in running to do. But the competition being so high makes me want to put in just as much work as I do for skiing, and that’s a cool thing!”
To bore in on ski training, Laukli recently visited the ski tunnel in Torsby, Sweden. It’s a form of training which she admittedly isn’t thrilled with. “It was mostly technique focus, but I really honestly hate tunnel training. I don’t think I would ever do it if I didn’t see the benefit. I can do it once a year and have a little bit of a boot camp. Many people have no problem with it, but I find it very mentally tough.”
In the midst of her summer of challenges Laukli did receive some good news. She was promoted on the U.S ski team from B team status to A team. Although there is limited day to day impact of the promotion, she appreciates the change in status. “It’s a motivating thing to move up, because it means that you’re better than the year before. I was really excited about it.”
As she continues to develop as a skier, Laukli has noted, and is quite open, about a couple of significant holes in her game—Sprinting and Classic skiing. She is physically tuned to be a distance athlete, and there’s only so much she can do to change that. This past spring, Laukli told FasterSkier that she was going to work a little bit more on her Sprinting skills this summer, if for no other reason than that she wouldn’t have to overcome as significant time deficits in the Tour de Ski. But she is realistic about her Sprinting abilities and acknowledges that even making the Sprint heats probably isn’t a realistic goal for this season. While not necessarily working specifically on Sprinting, “I’ve had a huge focus on strength this summer,” which should improve her Sprint results. She’s also been working on her Classic game. “Another thing that brings me down a bit (in Overall standings) is the difference in my Classic and Skating abilities, so I’ve had a bit more Classic focus, so at least I can get a little bit closer to my Skating (ability). I’m never going to be a Sprinter, but if I can get a little bit stronger, and at least get better at Classic, then it helps with focus on the Overall … so I don’t just think about the last stage (Alpe Cermis).”
In addition to the Tour de Ski, this is a World Championships year, and Laukli has some definite goals in mind. “I’m very results driven, so not having any results goals makes it hard to figure out what you want to do in the season. What I first do is pinpoint the races that I have the most potential in and base my training around those; so I’m in the best shape for those. The results goals are a little vague, but beyond Alpe Cermis, and the races at altitude, trying for a top five … the biggest focus of the year is the 50k Skate at the World Champs. I want that race to be my best race ever.” For the non-World Championship races, Laukli is primed for racing at Engadin (20k Freestyle) and Les Rousses (10 k Freestyle and 20 k Classic).
Based on the calendar layout, she will likely face about a two week layoff between her last World Cup race and her first World Championship race, which is fine by her. “You kind of always have these two week blocks of being off. I wouldn’t be confident that I would have a good World Champs if I was just racing through (without time off). I think you’ll see quite a few athletes not racing as much this year because of the World Champs.” But Laukli acknowledges that when managing the schedule, “you have to be smart. That’s what has gotten me into in trouble now—always wanting to do everything, and not giving things up. So, I think this year, I’ll have to be more cautious, it’s not worth chasing every single race, because World Champs are the focus.”
When it comes to the World Championships, even casual cross-country fans know the importance of the relay for the women’s team. A World Championship podium finish in the relay has been the great white whale they have been chasing for years. But the nature of the chase changed somewhat when equal distance racing for men and women went into effect and the legs on the women’s relay were lengthened to 7.5 kilometers. With the longer distance comes an opportunity for Laukli. “I’m glad it’s not five kilometers. Five kilometers is definitely on the brink of being too short for me. 7.5k feels almost like a 10k, so it should be better for me. It’s possible for me (to be on the team). You go into the Championship not banking on it, because you don’t want to be let down. I’m not going in with the mentality that I have that spot, but I would really-really like it.”
With the 50 kilometer race taking place at the World Championships, that marathon distance race has been eliminated from the fabled Holmenkollen venue, and Laukli has some strong feelings on that issue. “I’m definitely bummed, but that’s very biased. I understand why (the change was made). It would be too much if you had double (back to back) 50ks, but for me, I’m very upset, because two years ago I gave up the 50k Holmenkollen Skate to race the NCAAs. But I was thinking it was fine because there are so many years of 50k Holmenkollen.” With the schedule changes, she has been deprived of her window of opportunity to Skate the 50k Holmenkollen this year. And, with Olympics in 2026 there’s a chance she might miss Holmenkollen again. “I don’t know what’s going to happen in the Olympic year, there’s a perfectly good excuse not to have it then, and that’s a race I really want to do one day. It will be very telling if they realize how much of a loss not having the race is. The skiers may be less upset about it than the culture of skiing. It’s a pretty crazy decision to make.”
Laukli has now been on team Aker-Daehlie for two seasons and has grown to see Norway as her home for the foreseeable future. “I was skeptical when I moved last year and wondered if I would just want to move right back, but I’ve been super happy with it, and, as long as I’m a skier, I won’t be moving back to the U.S. I consider Norway more home now.” Laukli’s Norwegian is even becoming respectable. “It has definitely improved. I make the effort to speak it to a handful of people and that has made me improve. I’m not perfect.” But Norway isn’t without some challenges. The food has been a bit of an issue. “That was definitely a big challenge. I was missing a lot of my American food, but I have since realized that there are a couple of things that are way better here.” Bolle, a sweet cinnamon bun has become one of her favorites. “I would still choose American food, and any time my mom comes over, she travels with my American breakfast food because I don’t do Norwegian breakfasts.”
It seems that Laukli has figured out how to adjust to life in Norway. If her adaptations to training as a two sport athlete prove as adept, there’s no limit on the future for Sophia Laukli.
FasterSkier thanks Sophia Laukli for taking the time to speak with our reporter.
