Therese Johaug is expecting her first child. The big life change and lighter training have taken a toll.
Therese Johaug speaks openly about the fear left by skiing for the Swedish newspaper Expressen.
The four-time Olympic champion was worried that she wouldn’t be able to get pregnant after a 20-year career in top sports. The thought made him put a ski bag on a nail last spring.
– It (career) wears the body down and breaks you. I was stressed at the end of my career because I knew I would turn 35 in the summer and I wanted to become a mother. I didn’t know if it would be possible, Johaug tells the newspaper.
– I didn’t stop because I would have been tired to train or compete. I quit because I knew life would go on. I would never have forgiven myself if I had continued in the same way and it had cost me motherhood.
Planica’s World Championships didn’t seem worth pursuing.
– One World Championship gold would not have meant much overall, when I already have 14 of them.
Johaug worked at the World Championships in Planica as an expert for the Norwegian broadcasting company NRK. PASI LEISMA
The superstar’s fears did not come true, because Johaug and his rower spouse Nils Jakob Hoff are currently expecting the family’s first child. The calculated time is two months from now.
The ex-skier was recently spotted from the Canary Islands, Fuerteventura, training with a smile on her face and her pregnant belly exposed.
Johaug admits that the emotions were on the surface when the pregnancy was confirmed.
– I was so happy and cried.
If the image does not appear, you can look its here.
Johaug has received peer support from two top skiers, From Charlotte Kalla and From Maiken Falla, who are also pregnant. Messages are exchanged at a rapid pace.
– We talk with Charlotte about how the body is doing and how it feels. Very many top athletes are not in the same situation and discussion group. It’s great to show that after a long top sports career you can become a mother.
Hard times
Johaug admits that adapting to life without hard training has been difficult.
He compares the situation to losing his job and co-workers after 20 years.
– You have to give yourself a completely new world. All doors are open. I don’t know where life will take me.
– I miss adrenaline. It’s when I achieve goals in training and improve. My goal was to get pregnant, and I did. It beats all my gold. In the same year, big changes have happened in my life. It’s been hard.
Johaug’s first child will be born in two months. PASI LEISMA
Pregnancy has set its own challenges for training.
– It has been mentally difficult. My body reacts completely differently than before. I get frustrated. I’ve gone from the best shape of my life to the worst shape of my life.
Johaug currently conducts exercises for travel agency clients in the Canary Islands. The energy left after quitting your career can also be seen at home. Hoff suggested that the Norwegian star should get a hamster running wheel to release energy.
The ex-skier, on the other hand, says that he cleaned his Norwegian home so diligently that “there are holes in the parquet”.
He still doesn’t regret the decision to quit.
– I feel like there is a void in my life, but nothing is as important as a child.