EMILIA FAHLIN

FDJ NOUVELLE AQUITAINE

Hi everyone! I know I got a super nice introduction last month, but it’s hard not to touch on that a little, to feel that I’m kicking things off in the right order! I’m a hands-down sports nerd. I just love sport, and always have. At 14 I even did an internship at the local newspaper’s sport pages. I guess I didn’t stick to writing, so have patience with me here... but sport did stick. I come from Sweden where we have both summers and winters – and a lot of nature. I was brought up to go out on the weekends. In winter: cross-country skiing excursions, with hot chocolate at the midway point; sledging; iceskating. Summer: playing games in the backyard or going to the forest to pick mushrooms. I started gymnastics when I was seven and I also tried handball, but I’m just not co-ordinated at ball sports. I did gymnastics and cycling until I was 17. I didn’t want to have to choose, I enjoyed both and, for some odd reason, they complemented each other. I would train gymnastics in the week and go to cycling races on the weekends. I got injured when I was 16 and broke my ankle, and that was the natural point to put gymnastics away.

Sport gives me so many emotions. Watching people succeed, the feeling of reaching a dream, but also the cruel feelings it can bring. It’s so special because you can almost touch on those feelings just by watching. What I like even more is the other side of it: what goes on behind the race and result. The person behind it. The journey to get there. That’s what interests and inspires me the most. And that’s what I hope to be able to share here.