'I had lung damage, it was really tough' - Freddie Lindgren on battling long Covid while racing Speedway Grand Prix

Swedish sensation Freddie Lindgren comes into the 2022 Speedway Grand Prix season looking to improve on his two previous bronze medal finishes. However, the 36-year-old veteran has had to overcome a debilitating bout of long Covid after falling ill at the height of the pandemic in 2020. Ad/> Despite this, Lindgren still managed to achieve third place that year, just as he did in 2018, and was joint fourth in 2021.

GP Croatia, Donji Kraljevec'I always fight for the best results — Dudek looking to better 2017 heroics at SGPYESTERDAY AT 07:24 Ahead of the new campaign beginning April 30 in Gorican, Croatia and live on discovery+, Lindgren hopes to overcome his health issues and once again push for the title. Please give us an update on your health after your battle with long Covid... My health problems started in March 2020.

I got very sick right at the start of the pandemic and I was pretty much in bed for three months. I was very sick with Covid, but at this point, if you weren’t dying, you weren’t allowed to go into hospital. I did season 2020 and I fought on.

I ended up with a bronze medal, but it was tough. Coming into winter 2021, I got very sick with Covid again. Then I went to a clinic and had scans of everything we could think of to find out what the problem was.

They found out that I had lung damage and got some medicine for that, and this was the week before I travelled to Poland to start the new season. I had lung damage in my body and it was really tough on me, and all of 2021 was a big struggle. I couldn’t think properly and I couldn’t even run 5km.

I couldn’t do it. In the end, the mental side of it took its toll. I did the racing, went home and I was in bed for a couple of days just to try and be ready to