Hellner has gone the hard way to become World Cross-Country star

Mon, Aug  23, 2010 - By FIS

25-year-old Marcus Hellner, double Olympic champion in the 30 km pursuit and the 4x10 km relay, made him a World Cross-Country star. "The Olympics were a big hit. However, with less luck it could have easily ended up with no medals" said Hellner to Norbottens Kuriren. He knows what he's talking about: he finished fourth in his favorite distance, the 15 km Free.

New experiences

As an Olympic star, Hellner has to deal with things he did not experience before. "What became tangible for me after the Olympics is that more people come to me and say hello. I realized that they might have seen me on TV and now they want to greet me. But there is no problems with that," says Hellner. As proof, a man eating in the same restaurant as Marcus stops by: "Thanks Marcus for doing so great advertising for Gällivare and Sweden" he says and walks away.

Media interest in Marcus is much higher than ever before but he likes to control his time. "There has been definitely more media interest in me recently. Though it so not so high I could not handle it by myself. Nobody knows my schedule better than me. I simply change the meeting if it does not fit in my workouts plan."

However, there are areas where Marcus will use some help. There are plenty of companies knocking on Hellner's door to become their poster boy and to profit from the double Olympic champion. Therefore Hellner decided to hire a manager. "I can not say who it is yet, it is not clear. But it takes too much time and energy from me to sit in long telephone conversations and meetings and discuss business and marketing issues. My job is to do what I do best - to ski" he says.

Coach Inge Bråten

In 2005 Hellner finished studies at Skigymnasium. One year later he was taken to the Swedish national team, which was led by Norwegian coach Inge Bråten. And it was him who helped Hellner in his career and directed him at World's Cross-Country elite. Hellner suffered from periostitis, which became chronic. Bråten used his network and took him to Norway to see a specialist.  "I was there for five days. They carried out all sorts of treatment, and then, it disappeared. In summer of 2006 I could begin to run again" says Hellner.

Since 2006 when Hellner joined the national team, his performance curve has been pointing upwards. However, before Vancouver Olympics in 2010, he captured only one World Cup victory in 2008, 15 km Free in Gällivare. And Hellner does not think the conditions are optimal for all skiers.

"Financial situation becomes critical for all skiers after high school. I worked that time for 2 months in a mine and felt that I can not continue. Whatever you do, if you only sit in an chair doing office work or anything else it takes energy. And then combine it with two workouts per day. It is very difficult" explains Hellner. "Without support from LKAB and the local businesses here in Gällivare it would have never been possible for me to come where I am now". 

Contributed by kuriren.nu, original article HERE.