Norway’s Sylvia Nordskar comes to the 2025 Trail World Championships Long Trail just four weeks after placing a close second at CCC. In the following interview, Sylvia talks about her background in Nordic skiing, her introduction to trail racing in America, how her first visit to Trail World Championships resulted in a trip to the hospital, and what she hopes to get out of her race this year.
For more on who’s racing, check out our in-depth women’s and men’s previews and follow our live race coverage on Saturday.
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Sylvia Nordskar Pre-2025 Trail World Championships Long Trail Interview Transcript
iRunFar: Meghan Hicks of iRunFar, I’m with Sylvia Nordskar. It’s a couple days before the 2025 Trail World Championships Long Trail. You’ve been here for a couple of days though, you’re kind of the local. We’ve just arrived, it’s nice to meet you Sylvia.
Sylvia Nordskar: Very nice to meet you too.
iRunFar: We’ve had the privilege of watching you race for several years, but this is iRunFar’s first interview with you. So I’d love to learn a little bit about you as a runner, and then your background in sports. I think you come from Nordic skiing.
Nordskar: Yes, that’s correct. Yes. I’m from Norway, and grew up with the cross-country skiing like most of the children do there. And decided pretty early that I love the sport and wanted to go that path. So I went to a secondary school and a high school specifically for cross-country skiing. And I was competing on a very good level in Norway, and did that up until I was about 20 years. Then I got a scholarship from Denver University, so I moved to U.S., and was competing for the ski team there, next to my education at the university, and had four great years. And after that, I prioritized my business career more, and that’s when I kind of started running because that was what I had time for.
iRunFar: I loved looking into your history with running, because I think at least some of your early documented trail races were some little races in America. You ran our very historical Barr Trail Mountain Race.
Nordskar: Yeah. That’s true. That was the last spring I think I had in the U.S. And I had a summer where I was running a lot in the mountains in Colorado and started to really enjoy mountain running. And I’ve always loved racing, so looked up local races and that one came up, and I had a great experience. It was so much fun.
iRunFar: Yeah. And one of among America’s oldest trail races, like historical races too. You picked a good one.
Nordskar: Yeah. It was really cool. And I met some known trail runners and the organizers, and also I was back there with the Golden Trail World Series two years ago, and that was amazing to do the Pikes Peak Ascent at that time.
iRunFar: It looks like, according to your results and resume, that you raced with focus in trail running, starting just before COVID, like circa 2019, 2020.
Nordskar: Yeah, that’s true. Before that, I had just been doing some amateur ultra races, I actually started with 100k.
iRunFar: I love it.
Nordskar: … with a couple of my brothers and loved it. But yeah, it was more like being out in the nature experience. And then I did well in the racing and started to look up where can I actually find more competition. And then at that time, the Golden Trail World Series was kind of the biggest series, and because of COVID, they announced that you could win a Golden Ticket to the final by doing a virtual race. So I actually flew to Bergen on the west coast of Norway to do this virtual Strava segment that was the qualifying race, and I did it, and I won it. So I got the Golden ticket to the final.
iRunFar: Was that like 2021?
Nordskar: 2020.
iRunFar: Huh, that’s so cool.
Nordskar: Yeah, so that was how I could see the international scene, and from there I started to look more strategically into how I could do more of this, and eventually I did less work and now I’m a full-time runner.
iRunFar: It seems like your performance has sort of transitioned in the circa 2023, 2024 range, where it was super solid runner to where you started winning and podiuming in some important events. You just did that at CCC like three or four weeks ago, Zegama Marathon last year. Yeah, transitional, so I guess maybe that coincided with you turning pro as a runner.
Nordskar: Yeah. So that was in 2023, it felt like I was competing at the good level internationally, I did the stairs, so I was getting into the top 20. And then suddenly I got some top 10 positions, and figured out with the full-time job, I wasn’t able to develop more than that, I wasn’t able to get into the very top level. So in 2023, I quit my job and wanted to prioritize full-time athlete. And yeah, I was able to have a very solid season already that first season with getting top-five positions, and then the year after, I had my first very big victory with Zegama.
iRunFar: Yeah. And then you also had just a really great performance only four weeks before Trail World Championships at CCC where you and Martyna Młynarczyk took things all the way late in the race, and raced all the way to the line. Talk a little bit about that race.
Nordskar: Yes. So CCC had been my goal for a long time, and I did that in 2022 more as an amateur runner, but I still did very well and just loved the course, and knew that I’m definitely going to go back here and train more specifically for it. Last year, I showed up to the start line, but had had an injury the whole summer and was not ready for it, so had the DNF. So this year I was a bit scared just because I hadn’t done any 100k before it, and also very excited. I have had the good season, and training has been good, but running so long, you never know.
So yeah, I was very excited, and the race was able to follow my plan and the strategy, it was a beautiful day, and I really enjoyed it. And started conservatively, picked places, and then from Trient, my plan was that from there it’s beast mode, and it was so cool because I was actually able to turn that on and switch gears. And then we got the Norwegian weather with the rain coming in, and that’s, yes, so …
iRunFar: I’m actually in my element.
Nordskar: Yeah. So that turned into my favorite trip. But yeah, and I had a super strong finish, and it was just so cool to race. Also, when I saw Martyna at the top and we could make a really cool battle down, I enjoyed it. And even though I was 18 seconds behind and the first loser, I was really happy.
iRunFar: I feel like when a race goes that well, and you get the opportunity to battle all the way to the finish, both places are winning essentially. Do you know what I mean? In terms of sport, right? It’s just cool to be able to have a race like that.
Nordskar: Yeah. For me, racing is so much about how you’re able to execute it, how your body’s feeling, are you able to get the best out? And of course, I’m a very competitive athlete, so it’s like the winner takes it all, that’s for sure. But I was happy, I was smiling and that was my feeling, so that’s what I’m left with. Yeah.
iRunFar: I think on paper transitioning from racing a hard a 100k, four weeks before racing a hard 80k is like a difficult transition. How is it going for you?
Nordskar: Yeah, it’s a risky choice, but also an interesting one. And recovery after CCC has been pretty good, I felt like I went off that race with so much energy and positive vibe. So the motivation has definitely not been lacking. And my body has also felt good, I’ve been able to do the plan I’ve set. But of course, it’s such a short periods, so you don’t have time for a lot of training, and there are lots of preparations, and then you have the flight home, and then the flight here.
So now I’m just trying to stay calm, and get as prepared as I can by knowing, even though I don’t have the time now to see the whole trail, but seeing what type of terrain it is, and I will study a lot the course so I know it. And I have my parents here with me this time, which is very exciting. And hope for a day where I’m able to push well and stay fit. Nothing that I don’t get any trouble, and that we can have a cool competition as in CCC. That’s the coolest thing I think.
iRunFar: I love that you led your answer with the psychological aspect, that you took with you CCC positive vibes, good feelings. In ultra, so much of it is the psychology of it, isn’t it?
Nordskar: Yeah. I think for sure in an ultra it will go up and down. And also I think the period before such a race, you know that we will be racing for 10 plus hours, it’s very easy to feel niggles or fatigue. And also for me, knowing that I have CCC just completed that, I think it’s really important to stay positive and be excited for this adventure coming ahead, because if not, your body will collapse, and it’s not possible to do this double. So the mental aspect is so important for ultras, for sure.
iRunFar: I love that. This is the Trail World Championships, which is a unique component in that you’re racing for yourself, but you’re also racing for your nation. You’re experienced in this, I think this is your fourth Trail World Championships, though you’ve alternated in short trail and long trail over the years.
Nordskar: Yeah, it is. We actually talked a lot about my first World Champs in Portugal in 2019 yesterday because that was maybe the most traumatic experience I’ve had in trail running. Yeah. I fell, my whole thigh split open, and ended up at the hospital.
iRunFar: What? Really?
Nordskar: Yeah. And in Portugal, I had to call my brother, he’s a doctor, because nobody in that little village could speak English. So we had to figure out what medication I needed and got the surgery, and then home, and it was a big infection and it was pretty scary episode, but I was still left with so many great experiences actually.
iRunFar: Just find a medical emergency.
Nordskar: Yeah. So it was like even though all of that happened, I was with my team there. They carried me around on crutches, and I was at the prize ceremony with them. I have a photo, me in the finish line on crutches. So I was there and yeah, I think things like this happen, but I always try to bring the positive experience with me, and then that’s what I remember.
iRunFar: Wow, that is an interesting introduction to the Trail World Championships.
Nordskar: Yeah. So be careful on the trail now. But things like that happen, but it’s really cool to be part of a team, and I think we definitely feel that a lot when we are in a world championship, that you represent your country, we all wear the same clothes. And I love that team experience, and that’s also what I learned a lot when I went to the U.S. In Norway, cross-country skiing is much more of an individual. In the U.S., it was so much about the team, and that’s a great thing for the sport.
iRunFar: You’ve had a couple good World Championships experiences since that first one in 2019 in Portugal. I think you were just outside the top 10 in 2022-
Nordskar: Innsbruck.
iRunFar: … in 2023, correct?
Nordskar: Yeah. In Innsbruck.
iRunFar: For me, it’s interesting in that your career as a runner out in the commercial races has really evolved since the last World Championships 2.5 years ago now. So it’s going to be, I don’t know, for me watching you at this race is going to be so interesting because you’re a different runner.
Nordskar: Yeah. I also feel like a different runner. So much has happened through how I’ve prioritized much more specific training. I’ve done things like, I quit my job, that was the first thing. Then I moved to Chamonix to train specifically. Got a coach, and now self-coach, and trying to learn new things every day. And it’s also very cool to see on videos how I feel much more like a strong runner, how I built the specific strengths to be able to fight in these mountains. It’s a cool challenge.
iRunFar: Cool. Best of luck to you on Saturday at the World Championships.
Nordskar: Thank you.
