“See if my parents even come”
Olympic champion isolating herself at Christmas
12/22/2025 – 7:04 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
The Olympic season has been disappointing for Elvira Öberg so far. Also because they are plagued by health setbacks. That’s why she’s taking special measures over Christmas.
The season so far has not turned out as hoped for Elvira Öberg. The 26-year-old biathlete lost a lot of training time in the fall due to illness – this significantly slowed her development. So far this winter she has not achieved a podium finish in the individual, her best placement is fifth place.
“The pursuit was a top race for my requirements,” said the Swede after the last World Cup in Le Grand-Bornand, but also emphasized: “Of course I want more than just getting into the top ten once.”
Because she was not completely healthy for a long time, she was unable to build consistency in training. Nevertheless, she is looking forward. After returning to Sweden, she wants to work specifically on her shape – but not immediately: “First I have to see how the body has coped with the last stress. The trip is strenuous, the most important thing is to stay healthy now.”
Your Christmas will therefore be small. In order not to risk her health, she wants to meet as few people as possible, possibly not even her parents. “We’ll see if my parents come at all – they had a bit of a cold,” she explains to the Norwegian newspaper Expressen. She may just be spending the holidays with her partner Oskar Brandt in Östersund.
The planned training program is reminiscent of the build-up workload in October before the start of the season – lots of basic training and strength, less intensity. “If I can tolerate it well, I would like to do a lot of work. But you have to listen to your body and not overwhelm yourself.”
National coach Johannes Lukas sees the situation soberly, but remains confident: “The important thing now is that she arrives home and recovers. After that, we want to lay a good training foundation. She has missed a lot in the last four weeks, so this is a crucial phase.”