October Tuesday does not want to break up outside the media company's home ground on Södermalm in Stockholm. There are many people from the media who want to talk to the riders.
More than 50 people from 27 media and production companies are registered. It is an interest many sports in Sweden can only dream of.
The ski association's cross-country manager Lars Öberg takes a freshly brewed mug from a coffee machine and states:
- We are delighted and humbled by the great interest. We have noticed in the last three, four years that it has increased every year.
There, success can be seen in the form of a recent Swedish Olympic champion. There's one more. And one more.
He believes that the big explanation is what is seen when you sweep your eyes around the room.
There, success is felt in the form of a recent Swedish Olympic champion. There's one more. And one more. Two champions are missing, but there are plenty of other skiers who have become big profiles with the skiing public.
The biggest star is sitting on a sofa and is grateful for the situation skiing has and thinks about what responsibility she has for the future of the sport.
- I want to give back in my own way. I see my responsibility very much towards the younger generation, to be able to be a role model, says Frida Karlsson.
- Media-wise, I think it's just about being yourself and that it's good if there are different personalities.
I will do what I love and entertain people along the way. That's what it's all about.
For Frida Karlsson, skiing is more of a passion than a job.
- I will do what I love and entertain people along the way. That's what it's all about. It's a privilege to also earn money from it.
In a digital media world where everything can be measured, the national cross-country team is good at attracting viewers, readers and listeners.
But how can interesting be so big when the sport is so small globally?
- That's one thing I can ask myself. It's strange, but fun, says William Poromaa, who sees the coming winter as a chance for revenge after a tough Olympic season.
- I think the viewers feel that they can get close to the sport and become part of it. Then skiing has its own culture and history in Sweden.
The red-hot national team syncs well with the great interest in skiing and doing exercise sports that exists in the country. At the same time, it stands in strong contrast to what the outside world looks like.
Cross-country skiing has never had a broad peak internationally.
The climate crisis is the great threat to the future of sport.
The TV companies' gold rush is over. The revenue for rights has generally fallen sharply in the sports world and despite the national team's luminosity, it is still not clear who will broadcast this winter's ski WC in Falun.
Long-distance sports have never had a broad peak internationally, it is memory-impaired and nostalgic fever dreams of the disintegrated 1980s that say so. But cross-country sports in particular have lost out on the fact that Russian athletes (with every right) have been off the tracks. In the Olympics, all the golds were won by Sweden and Norway. Just like in the WC 2025.
So internationally, stars are needed who can light up the sport. Jessie Diggins' tilting battle on skis is over. In the US national team squad that was recently presented, there was not a single female skater.
- We will miss her. She has been an important piece in the sport and a good role model for many. I think she has sown many seeds on the other side of the Atlantic, says Frida Karlsson.
Is the national team the symbol of a sport which, in the age of the lack of competition and the melting icebergs, is a future Titanic?
So the question is whether Frida Karlsson, Ebba Andersson and the others who go from interview to interview this afternoon are at the top of a mountain of interest that will continue to stand strong.
Or is the national team the symbol of a sport which, in the age of cool competition and melting icebergs, is a future Titanic?
Lars Öberg says that reports from the International Ski Federation say that length is the branch of the skiing tree that increases the most in the number of practitioners.
He nevertheless sees two major future dangers:
- It is clear that the climate threat is there. We are a winter sport and without the white surface it is not possible. But we have greater knowledge of how to save snow now and the third generation snow cannons are environmentally friendly and incredibly efficient. A loop that previously took two weeks to spray now takes two days.
If we were to lose a number of role models, we would quickly have to start working in a different way.
For the Swedish part, he is more worried about this:
- Success is a fresh commodity. If we were to lose a number of role models, we would quickly have to start working in a different way. So it is important that we bring in riders from below who are prepared to take over. The sporting successes are the basis for us to have a good product.
Thus we are back with Frida Karlsson.
WC in Falun and SC on home ground in Sollefteå this winter. Will it be the end of the career?
She doesn't know.
- Right now, I am adamant that I will enter into new negotiations with myself after the season.
