Biathlete Ella Halvarsson’s extreme new training before the Olympics: “I almost fainted”

Swedish biathlete Ella Halvarsson has shown excellent pre‑season form and revealed she has made a major change to her training ahead of the Olympic season: dedicated heat training.

“I almost fainted,” the 25‑year‑old said, explaining that at first she went too hard with the added heat stress, which coincided with a heat wave and left her overly fatigued. Heat training has become increasingly common in track and field, cross‑country skiing and biathlon to stimulate adaptations similar to altitude training by improving oxygen uptake.

SVT expert Mona Brorsson has previously stated she is convinced heat training will become more widespread. For Halvarsson, the move appears to be paying off: in the final pre‑season test race held in Östersund over the weekend, she was dominant, shooting quickly and well and feeling that her form is coming around.

This weekend she will be tested again at Loop One in Munich, a supersprint rollerski biathlon event featuring several big names, including World Cup overall winners Franziska Preuss (Germany) and Sturla Holm Lægreid (Norway). The format includes five 1.8 km laps in the final, with four shooting bouts (two prone, two standing), no spare rounds, and a 60‑meter penalty loop per miss. SVT will broadcast the competition on Sunday.

Sweden’s roster for Munich:

Women: Anna Magnusson, Ella Halvarsson, Johanna Nordqvist, Johanna Skottheim.

Men: Jesper Nelin, Martin Ponsiluoma, Oscar Andersson, Viktor Brandt.