During Season XIV, the Lager 157 Ski Team athlete was unbeatable in the battle for the Pink Youth competition. Now, Karolina Hedenström has signed a two-year contract: “It was an easy choice,” says the 22-year-old.

Karolina Hedenström did her first full season in Ski Classics and was successful. The 22-year-old achieved outstanding results, and at one of the season’s Grand Classics races, Jizerská50, she made the podium, finishing second behind Magni Smedås.

Lager 157 Ski Team athlete Hedenström grabbed the Pink bib after the premiere weekend in Bad Gastein and didn’t let it go. The margin to runner-up Hanna Lodin, Ski Team Göhlins, was a whopping 724 points:

“I have had a stated goal to take and wear the Pink bib all season. To be able to succeed in that, it is a prerequisite to stand on the starting line in race after race. I have done that, and it was fantastic to have secured the overall victory in the battle for the pink bib even before the final weekend,” says Karolina Hedenström.

Has the season been as you imagined?

“No, it has been much better. This with the solid level I have maintained and then the highlight in Jizerská,” says Hedenström in a previous interview with ProXCskiing.com (read it here).

Now it is clear that Hedenström will race for Lager 157 Ski Team for the next two seasons as well:

“I only had a one-year contract, which expired now. It gave me a chance to reflect. But the way it feels now, there’s no way I could be on another team. I enjoy it,” says Hedenström.

Lager 157 Ski Team made a new effort on the women’s side this season, investing in the young duo Karolina Hedenström and Linnea Johansson when the most successful skier in Ski Classic history; Britta Johansson Norgren, put the skis on the shelf.

“It is a very exciting project, but at the same time, it is just at the starting point. We have noticed during the year that it is fragile to be just two because there will be illnesses and injuries. And I know that Anton (Pro Team Director Anton Järnberg) and the whole team find it very motivating to work with young individuals who can go from “zero” to become great,” says Hedenström.

Here you can find Karolina Hedenström’s Ski Classics results.

The Season XIV of Ski Classics Pro Tour consisted of 14 events on 10 event weekends in 6 different countries. 

Ski Classics Pro Tour Season XIV (2022/2023)

• Event 1: December 10, 2022 – Bad Gastein PTT, Bad Gastein, Austria, 15km
• Event 2: December 11, 2022 – Bad Gastein Criterium, Bad Gastein, Austria, 35km
• Event 3: December 17, 2022 – La Venosta Criterium, Val Venosta, Italy, 36km 
• Event 4: January 14, 2023 – Pustertaler Ski Marathon, Sexten, Italy, 62km
• Event 5: January 15, 2023 – Prato Piazza Mountain Challenge, Niederdorf, Italy, 32km
• Event 6: January 21, 2023 – Engadin La Diagonela, Engadin Valley, Switzerland, 48km 
• Event 7: January 29, 2023 – Marcialonga, Trentino, Italy, 70km
• Event 8: February 12, 2023 – Jizerská50, Bedřichov, Czech Republic, 50km
• Event 9: February 18, 2023 – Grönklitt Criterium, Orsa Grönklitt, Sweden, 50km
• Event 10: February 19, 2023 – Grönklitt ITT, Orsa Grönklitt, Sweden, 12km
• Event 11: March 5, 2023 – Vasaloppet, Sälen-Mora, Sweden, 90km
• Event 12: March 18, 2023 – Birkebeinerrennet, Rena-Lillehammer, Norway, 54km
• Event 13: April 1, 2023 – Reistadløpet, Setermoen-Bardufoss, Norway, 40km
• Event 14: April 2, 2023 – Summit 2 Senja, Bardufoss- Finnsnes, Norway, 68km

More information about the Ski Classics Pro Tour you can find at skiclassics.com.

Photo: Reichert/NordicFocus