Sara Hector has learned to tame the competitive devil: “It took time”

Sara Hector struggled with nerves and injuries, fell, got back up, brimming with anger and seething with joy.

Twelve years ago she made her debut at the Olympic Games as a speed skater. Four years ago came the biggest highlight of his career so far: the gold medal in the giant slalom in Beijing.

When she now competes in her fourth and most likely last Olympics, it is a medal hopeful with more than 16 years of World Cup experience who will be competing in Cortina.

Who was Sara Hector, who competed in her first World Cup competition in 2009?

-Oh! exclaims the star when DN meets her for a lengthy interview.

– Of course I was more unsure. Skiing was absolutely everything I knew and was passionate about. Maybe it was an even bigger part of my identity than it is now.

Only sport was on my mind.

– Maybe it wasn’t a problem, but when things went badly, I immediately got really stressed. Not that I always stay calm now, haha… but back then everything was always much more.

The will to win which runs directly on the television screen every winter weekend, accompanies the entire career.

However, Hector says she has learned to tame this competitive person when necessary. Or rather; she has become smarter.

– It is a great strength, but one must be aware of when it is unwise to compete in things that are not relevant to the actual competition. And maybe it took me a little too long to realize that.

What do you mean?

– I think I competed a little too much when I was younger. It was easy for me to compete the most in training, perform the most and give my best. It’s easy to keep up with everything. For example, if you want to go for a leisurely jog, but instead you want to run as fast as you can… Then it’s no longer a leisurely jog. Starting to compete when it’s not actually a competition can have the opposite effect.

– Therefore, it is important to know when using that competitive person is actually a strength or not.

The fact that she can now “pick her battles” is by far the biggest difference between who she is today and who she was when she joined the national team, she continues.

– I took part in everything, was always the first in skiing or the first in everything. Now I can choose; Is this what really makes me good?

When did you feel like you had landed in that balance?

– It was a process that definitely took time. Now I’m a little older and…

Sara Hector falls silent, hesitates for half a second.

More mature?

– Mature! Exactly! she then says and laughs.

– Older and more mature. It is perhaps no coincidence that my best results came a little later in my career.

She Is still an emotional personshe says and laughs again. And the devil of competition is always in the back of your mind.

– But when it’s not necessary, I protect myself from anything that causes it to start!

– For example, I can decide that I don’t want to look once (during training). Sometimes you might just want to test skis, but then you’re on the team and then it still feels like a competition… then you have to find ways to handle yourself as best you can. Because emotions will always drive you. If you want to win, it’s a driving force, but sometimes it can be because of the wrong things.

Mental strategies have led to the 33-year-old finishing third in the Giant Slalom Cup this winter after four podium finishes, including one win. The last two seasons were the best of her career in terms of overall World Cup placings (fifth and fourth). She is still missing an individual world championship medal, but will aim for an Olympic repeat on February 15.

What are you dreaming about?

– I dream of continuing to feel good, to enjoy every day, to give the iron. And of course also that many things go my way, from results to training, and that I really enjoy the journey. This is an important part.

The above answer is typically “Hectorian.” The journalist who wants to promise gold to the Swedish alpine veteran has had to leave his interview empty-handed all these years.

Because the giant slalom skier from Sandviken is not like that.

Sara Hector prefers to talk about the love of sport, the journey, well-being, how to stay calm and deal with adversity properly.

She also worked on that on the side.

The Olympic skater poses Turn the clock back to the 00s again.

– I was bad at dealing with adversity and worse at dealing with emotions. When the anxiety hit, I didn’t have nearly as many tools to deal with things like that as I do now. It was more of a lottery when things went well.

She explains:

-Now when I have a bad day, I still have a lot of tools to get out of it and work on it. I think that’s a pretty big difference.

It was 15 years ago the few who talked about mental coaching or mental challenges in sport.

Sara Hector, who was plagued by performance fears for many years, took on both roles early on.

– Yes, because I think it was very important to me. Because I realized it made such a big difference.

– I remember someone once said: “Do we have to talk about it all the time?” Because maybe it wasn’t so normal to do that back then. But for me it was never strange.

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When she seriously injured her knee in 2015, she wrote “It’s in the attitude” on her social media, she recalls.

– It was with me the whole time. Because I had the feeling that it depends on my attitude whether I feel good or not. And then I started working on it more. But I always felt like it was very important to me.

– I am generally a very emotional person, and that brings challenges – and strengths.

Read more:

This is how Hector will last the entire Olympic winter: “You have to be careful with mental breaks”

Couldn’t even ride the lift together – now Hector and Swenn-Larsson are making their last Olympic trip: “Were rivals”