Ahead of the men’s Olympic debut, Sunday’s skiathlon race (10 kilometers classic style, followed by 10 kilometers freestyle), perhaps the most talked about were two other Swedish skiers: Edvin Anger and William Poromaa. But after double pole breaks at Anger and a Poromaa who unexpectedly fell a lot on his classic skis, the blue and yellow hope lay with a man from Bollnäs.
The 24-year-old was used as a reserve in the Swedish relay team that took bronze at last year’s World Championships, but in the World Cup he was at best 11th in an individual race.
Now he calls seventh place “absolutely fantastic.”
– It’s surreal. Somehow you don’t believe it’s true, and when I get to the finish line I have to double check that the result is correct.
Truls Gisselman began started skiing at the age of 12 and still represents the parent club Rehns BK.
– It is Sweden’s best cross-country bandy club. There is no question of that, he says, making all the assembled Swedish journalists laugh.
He says it feels a little surreal to be competing in the Olympics 12 years after his first pole vault. At the same time, the games in Milan Cortina were a goal he had set himself during high school skiing.
– In the first few years you skied, you were very low in the results lists. But at the same time it was always very motivating and I felt like I got a little better every year.
It’s not a miracle cure that got him to the top of the world, he says, but serious training and precision with sleep and nutrition.
In the race on Sunday In the classic part he hung out with the four Norwegians, the absolute favorites. With a low starting number, he first had to work his way forward.
– I started in 29th place and the idea was to stay cool at the beginning. There will be a lot of people burning a lot of powder and there will be a lot of chaos, but there will be gaps that can be exploited to get more favorable placements. It turned out well.
When changing skis he was eighth, only seconds behind Johannes Høsflot Klæbo. However, he wanted to make up for those few seconds up to seven (also two Frenchmen and the Russian driver).
– I thought I have to dare to try it, I know that it is much easier if you land in a group than if you land alone.
He passed a tired Mattis Stenshagen, who didn’t make it into the tight group. However, he was a bit lucky that another Norwegian fell – he was able to grab Harald Østberg Amundsen’s back – and hold him in the freestyle.
– It was like a dream. It felt completely crazy to be riding around with Amundsen, still considered one of the world’s best freestyle skiers, and feeling like “I can keep up today.”
Amundsen himself says he initially thought it was Poromaa he had behind him and thought he might get some traction.
– I turned around and saw that it was starting number 29… I was a little surprised. But he’s having a fantastic ski race… it has to be the best of his career, so congratulations to him.
Truls Gisselman gets A big hug from Lars Ljung as they switch off at the microphones. The men’s coach is moved by today’s Swedish exclamation mark.
– It’s so much fun and so incredibly impressive. For me it was a little easier to see him doing classic skating, but the fact that he was able to maintain his skating pace on these tracks, in this competition, with these skaters… that’s really great of Truls, he says.
Ljung says Gisselman has shown what Swedish men’s skiing needs: skilled skiers who can follow a strong back on difficult slopes.
Ljung comes from Söderhamn and has known the skier from Bollnäs for six years.
– He’s one of those who cheated a little in the reeds. It doesn’t take up much space, but it gets the job done and always takes small steps.
Truls Gisselman hopes that he has now secured a spot on the relay team and also hopes to run the final race of the Olympics, the five-mile race.
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