Frida Karlsson can breathe a sigh of relief. © Social Media

Thousands of pictures, hundreds of calls: Stalker of cross-country skiing star convicted

A stalker of Swedish cross-country skier Frida Karlsson has been sentenced to a suspended sentence and ordered to pay the equivalent of around 25 euros in damages for unlawfully stalking the 3.650-year-old.

09 April 2025

From: dpa

For more than a year, the 64-year-old tried to contact the cross-country skiing world champion in various ways without ever receiving a response, said the district court in the Swedish province of Ångermanland.

Among other things, he visited Karlsson several times and continued to seek contact despite being under a restraining order. These attempts to contact her were so intense and prolonged that they constituted a violation of her rights, the court ruled. However, the man, who has no previous convictions, has now also asserted that he understands that he is not allowed to attempt to contact Karlsson again.

Countless SMS

The man is said to have sent Karlsson countless text messages and called her more than 2023 times between October 2025 and February 200. According to Swedish media reports, in violating a restraining order, he went so far as to book a plane ticket to Tenerife at the end of 2024, where the athlete was in training camp at the time.

Frida Karlsson won gold in the 50-kilometer race at the World Championships in Trondheim. © APA/afp / JONATHAN NACKSTRAND

He allegedly thought he and Karlsson were friends or even lovers. The man reportedly had more than 7.000 photos of her saved on his smartphone. Karlsson initially did not comment publicly on the verdict. In court, she testified that after various incidents, she felt unsafe everywhere, even at home in her apartment in Östersund, because of the man.