At the Nordic World Championships in Trondheim (NOR) a year from now, women will be racing over the 50-kilometre distance for the first time. Should she win the race, Johaug would not only be taking home her 15th title as world champion but also become the first female 50-km world champion in history.

She has yet to take a definitive decision about her comeback, Johaug goes on to say. She explains that should she decide to tackle the 50-km world championship, though, she would focus solely on this one race and its qualifying races. She has no intention of taking on a complete World Cup programme.

The 35-year-old will participate in her first race in two years on Sunday. At the Engadine Women's Race over 17 km, she will compete against some 1'000 participants and a former rival, Justyna Kowalcyk (40) from Poland, against whom she raced head to head for many years. Both returned home with Olympic gold medals from Vancouver (2010) and Sochi (2014). Kowalcyk retired in 2020, and Johaug went on to dominate the 2022 Games in Peking, capturing three gold medals. Both athletes gave birth to a child after their retirement.