Cross-country skiing: Therese Johaug hid the real reason she retired: “Help, help”

Therese Johaug says she originally intended to aim for the 2026 Winter Olympics, but an unexpected pregnancy made her change course and retire.

After narrow misses at the home World Championships in Trondheim—where she took three silvers and one bronze while Sweden won all six golds—the 37‑year‑old had mentally set the Olympics in Italy as her end point. In spring training she experienced unusual fatigue, a high heart rate, and poor recovery, assuming it was a reaction to the World Championships.

Tests soon showed she was pregnant with her second child. “You’re pregnant,” she recalls being told. “I thought: ‘Help, help,’ and had a thousand thoughts in my head. Then it won’t be the Olympics,” Johaug says on the podcast “Gukild & Johaug,” which she co-hosts with NRK profile and cross-country skier Emil Gukild.

Before learning she was pregnant, Johaug had decided in March and April to go for the Olympics, especially motivated by missing out on gold in Trondheim. Her husband, former rower Nils Jakob Hoff, had publicly promised full support at home for an Olympic campaign.

After a training session where everything felt wrong, she phoned her coach Pål Gunnar Mikkelsplass in tears, then took tests that confirmed the pregnancy. She immediately informed Hoff, who was driving to visit a friend; he had to pull over, saying he had expected a calm and peaceful period. “We were happy, absolutely, but it wasn’t planned,” Johaug says, laughing.

Johaug announced her retirement at the end of May, then shared her pregnancy news at the end of July. The baby is due in January. The Milan/Cortina Olympics run 4–22 February and will be broadcast in Sweden by SVT and TV4.