NINE-TO-FIVE ATHLETE Text: Lina Åsberg / Photo: Anette Andersson
Johanna Åström discovered she had a talent for moving fast in the mountains by pure coincidence. She soon became both an elite skyrunner and Swedish national team ski mountaineer. It was all smooth sailing…until it wasn’t. These days, she tries to focus less on performance and more on the joy of exploring. Although Johanna Åström is only 26 years old, she’s already accomplished more than most. She’s competed in – and won – several big skyrunning races, thrown herself into ski mountaineering and become an ambassador for Arc’teryx – all while based in her Norwegian hometown Åndalsnes. When we sit down for a chat in November, she’s in the French Alps with the National Ski Mountaineering Team – everyday life for a girl constantly living among mountain tops and forest trails. Despite her success, Johanna is humble – not one to hog the spotlight and, all trophies aside, someone who’s keen to emphasise how she’s “not competitive”. In August 2021, Johanna announced through social media that she was pausing her competitive career to regain her passion for running. In our interview, she’s keen to stress how she “competes because it’s fun”, to see how far she can push herself and be among the like-minded. TELL ME JOHANNA, WHAT GOT YOU INTO TRAIL RUNNING? - I grew up in Matfors, a tiny village outside of Sundsvall,
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Sweden, and I’ve always been interested in sports and the outdoors. I grew up orienteering, skating, swimming, and playing football, and was constantly out doing sport with friends. It was never about competing or getting one up on someone else; I just liked being outdoors and hanging out. After that, I moved to Funäsdalen and started working in a small skiing shop. I entered an uphill running race, and it went better than I’d expected. The Funäsdalen area is amazing for both trail running and skimo. I got a taste for it and wanted to get better. Truth be told, that’s probably why I enjoyed orienteering so much – it was the running that I loved. I’ve never been that great at reading maps, Johanna says with a laugh. But in autumn 2021, it all came to a halt. Johanna slowly felt her joy turn to distress and growing pressure to perform in the world of competitive sports. It all started with a skiing contest where Johanna didn’t score as well as she’d hoped. The disappointment soon affected other races and eventually her regular training. - I started to feel like I was inadequate, Johanna confesses. If I didn’t deliver, I wasn’t just disappointed with the results,
