Eugene. Perseus Karlstrom’s bronze effort instilled fear in the contenders ahead of the 35km race.
The Japanese team sent world champion Toshikazu Yamaneshi as a spy.
– He showed up in the bushes when we were training, and lay there and hid, says Karlstrom.
Perseus KarlstromThe 32-year-old won Sweden’s only World Cup medal before the final tournament day.
But the truth is that Karlstrom sees his greatest chances at 35 kilometers. The distance is new to the world championships, previously it was 50 kilometers, and the Swede enters the competition as the world number one in the standings.
I go to this race as the world’s number one candidate. This is the distance we have trained for. The 20 was pretty impressive, but we were more focused on the 35 kilometres.
“relaxes in a different way”
What does it mean to get a bronze medal in your bag?
– I think I can relax in a completely different way. Many only have one chance and then there is a lot of pressure. Then he obviously gets nervous anyway.
But the question is whether Japan’s powerful rivals are not raising more tension. The Japanese took a double at 20 km, but sent a new triple over a long distance that broke the three fastest in the world this year.
– We found out that Toshikazu Yamaneshi (20km world champion) was spying for the Japanese national team yesterday (Wednesday).
How do you spy at work?
– We met in a building here before training and then he showed up while we were talking there. Then when we were training, he showed up in the bush and hid. It was fun!
He thinks the reason was to see if the Swede was ready for a double.
– Maybe his teammates were nervous about whether or not I would double. You can score sometimes and not start at first but they are obviously worried about what I can do.
The race starts at 15.15 Swedish time on Sunday.
