LINDGREN TO SEEK SPECIALIST SUPPORT IN LONG COVID FIGHT

08/09/2022

LINDGREN TO SEEK SPECIALIST SUPPORT IN LONG COVID FIGHTLINDGREN TO SEEK SPECIALIST SUPPORT IN LONG COVID FIGHT

Swedish star Freddie Lindgren is ready to seek specialist advice when the season is over as he bids to win his battle with long Covid.

The former world No.3 heads into the FIM Speedway GP of Denmark – Vojens, sponsored by ECCO this Saturday determined to step up his medal push.

He is currently sixth in the Speedway GP World Championship standings on 70 points – occupying the final automatic qualifying position for the 2023 series.

That is some feat given that Lindgren has been racing on with breathing difficulties, caused by Covid-19 infections in both March 2020 and again in the winter of 2020/21.

Lindgren won Speedway GP World Championship bronze in 2020 and also took fifth place last year. While he is still delivering results many riders would be delighted with, the ambitious two-time Swedish champion admits he is growing frustrated that his health is preventing him from finding his best form.

And he’s determined to get some specialist advice in a bid to overcome the condition for 2023. Lindgren admitted: “I am still struggling quite a lot with my breathing and stuff like that. I really need to figure out what’s wrong in the winter when the season has finished.

“I am just trying to finish off this season in the best way I can. Then I will find some specialists and see what’s wrong with me.”

Lindgren ended his 2021 season early due to his ongoing breathing problems and also took a three-week break in June and July this season. While his health is still troubling him, the rider was determined to fight on.

He said: “I took the decision to come back and finish off the year and do the best I can with it.

“Of course it is not ideal, but it is what it is. I am going to fight through it until the end of the season and hopefully I can find out what we should do in time for next year. I want to get myself healthy; that’s the main thing.

“I cannot be 100 percent myself when I am on the bike sometimes. Some days are better; some days are worse. I can say that some days I feel fairly well and, on some others, I feel really bad. It’s hard mentally for sure.”

Lindgren has still achieved two podium finishes in 2022 – taking third place at the Speedway GP rounds in Warsaw and Teterow.

But the frustrated Andorra-based ace said: “I have had a pretty tough year, to be honest, so far. I had a couple of successes with some podiums, but the rest has been pretty poor.

“I am where I deserve to be in the standings, but hopefully I can pull something out of the hat and climb the ladder in the championship table over these last few rounds.”

Despite his health issues, Lindgren’s ambition of becoming Sweden’s first world champion since Tony Rickardsson lifted his sixth and final world title in 2005 still burns bright.

He said: “I am still dreaming of a world title one day. That is my motivation. But first of all, I need to get healthy and ready for next year hopefully. I wish I was chasing the medals and the gold, but at the moment it is not looking that way. I am just trying to do my best in each round that’s left.”