If you leave Val di Fiemme’s Olympic stadium, where Frida Karlsson won double gold, and take a winding road up among Trentino’s mountains, you come to the Lavazè pass at an altitude of just over 1,800 meters.
At the Lavazè cross-country track center, a road goes to the left. It continues upwards and at the end of the road, after about half an hour’s journey from the Olympic valley, is the hotel that became Frida Karlsson’s gold mine for the 2026 Olympics.
DN met Frida Karlsson here for a report just over two weeks before the first Olympic gold and then met a skier who matched the bright sun with his mood.
Hotel manager Alex Daldoss noted the same.
– I have known Frida for three years and noticed that she was in a good mood. Absolutely. It was special this year, says Daldoss when we meet again.
He has seen her gold rush on the mobile phone in the hotel bar where the glass walls offer adorable views. After Frida’s first victory, his wife Sybille Herbst posted a congratulatory greeting on Instagram. In the picture, the owner couple and Frida are standing outside the hotel.
My second home, answered Frida.
Frida Karlsson would actually have lived here for a whole month before the Olympics. But her foot problems reminded her, so she took a trip home to Sweden after the Tour de Ski. It was still 16 days at the hotel.
– It is noticeable that Frida likes this place and the surroundings. We are in a very quiet area. For the athletes, it is good to train here. They can relax. There are not 500 hotels and a lot of restaurants up here. When they go outside, they are close to nature, have fresh air. And we are 2000 meters above sea level so it is perfect for high altitude training. And we have a good kitchen in the hotel. says Alex Daldoss
What does Frida eat when she is here at camp?
– Frida is very easy to have as a guest and especially when it comes to food, she is simple. She eats chicken and rice.
No pasta?
– No. I usually ask every day: “Isn’t it boring? Shouldn’t you have something else?” But she only wants chicken and rice, twice a day, lunch and dinner. It’s her favorite.
What did you think when you saw her take home second gold?
– It is an honor for us to have been able to host a double Olympic champion. Of course we follow when Frida competes. I have not been nervous, she is in top form.
That shape comes from Frida Karlsson accumulating red blood cells in the oxygen-poor air. This means that the oxygen is transported faster in the blood when the endurance is tested in the Olympic tracks.
The danger with high altitude training is if you drive too hard. The body can take a hit that takes time to recover from.
So that it wouldn’t affect Frida Karlsson, who historically has often been “Frida fast and wrong”, she had the world’s best skier as cruise control.
Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, together with training partner Emil Iversen, made sure that Frida did not go too fast during the joint training sessions in Lavazè’s tracks.
When Frida Karlsson was here and found her Olympic form she had mother Mia Karlsson as company.
– This week we had the pleasure of meeting her father and sisters as well. They came to visit, the whole family. Except for Frida, of course, says hotel owner Alex Daldoss.
On Saturday, he takes out his mobile phone to follow his hotel guest again. In the relay, Frida Karlsson will make history and become the first Swedish female Olympian to win three gold medals in the same Games.
Read more:
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date:2026-02-14 04:59:00
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