Most of us are happy if we get 10,000 steps together one day. Perseus Karlsson goes more than double. The training diaries show that on average there will be 150,000 steps a week. It will be 7.8 million a year.
If he expects him for 20 years, he will end up on the staggering sum of just over 150 million steps. It has cost some shoe – over 200 pairs.
– I started numbering all my shoes in 2009. The ones I will use here at the World Cup will be a number 209 or 210, says Karlström.
He is first out of the 35 Swedes in the squad when the athletics World Cup begins in Tokyo the night until Saturday Swedish time with 35 kilometers walking.
Karlström has four Medals from the last three world championships and finished second in 20 kilometers in Budapest for two years. Last year there was gold on the same distance in the European Championships. This season, the focus has been on the longer distance, but the training has been neglected. He tells how at the end of March he suffered high pulse and fever in connection with a workout and how the virus he had in his body forced him to a four -week long training break.
– It has been a “unique” season and long way back, but since July I have been able to train well, even though it feels like the virus is still affecting me. The body is very sensitive and after I flew here to Tokyo I was tough for two days and it hurt in my arms and shoulders, says Karlström.
They deteriorated Preparations for the World Cup start cause the 35-year-old to turn down the expectations that have been high in the past championships. But he does not mind the harsh conditions that learn to prevail during the World Cup and believes that this speaks to his advantage.
– There are many who are not usually so good heat -prepared, it has been shown at the latest championships, and I feel better heat trained than ever, he says, and says that he will use his “ice cream” and his “ice collar”, the usual aids to lower the heat during the race.
To protect the corridors from the heat, the World Cup race has on Tokyo’s streets and with a finish on the World Cup arena Japan National Stadium, early to half eight in the morning local time (00.30 Swedish time).
The four-time World Cup medalist says that, given the circumstances, he would be satisfied with a place among the top eight, but adds that the form has been good in recent weeks.
– Everything can happen, especially now that it’s so hot, says Karlström.
Read more:
Athletics World Cup 2025-Guide with the entire schedule in Tokyo
