Cross-country skiing: Ten Norwegians in the first thirteen during the individual
In cross country ski, is Norway unbeatable? On Friday, she devoured everything during the individual skate in Lillehammer. She occupies the first six places among men, in the absence of the star Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo. As host country, it was able to field twelve runners. Ten of them placed among the top thirteen. Among the ladies, she monopolizes the first three positions among the ladies (six in the ten).
This domination is debated in the caravan. We are even sounding the alarm because the scenario of last winter seems to be repeating itself. The discipline could even die from this supremacy, threaten the most pessimists. “Norway is the best on and off the track. And it can’t continue like this.”wrote a Norwegian journalist in a daily newspaper on Friday. He asks himself: who still wants to watch a race on television when, in the end, it’s always a Norwegian who wins?
In Sweden, Calle Halfvarsson approved : “There must be changes, otherwise our sport will perish”he warns in the columns ofThe evening paper. Comments made while at the edge of the Lillehammer track, the public is not there. “I’m not surprised, it’s like that every year here. I think it will only get worse”he regrets.
“It’s up to Calle and the others to go faster so that there is more suspense”replied Harald Oestberg Amundsen. Lotta Udnes Weng is not more tender towards his neighbor. For her, as soon as Sweden doesn’t get on the podium, she complains. “I call them the whiny team”she told SVT.
Since the start of the season, the one who has resisted the Scandinavians as best he can is the Austrian Mika Vermeulen. For him, in addition to the pool of athletes that the Nordic kingdom has, the quality of the equipment plays an important role. What the British confirms Andrew Musgrave which collaborates with Norway for the preparation of its skis. “I felt like I had really good skis today. Those in the wax truck are doing a good job », he confided yesterday to The online newspaper. Logically, he adds, “faced with the best racers and the best skis, it becomes difficult for small nations to compete”.
- Enough to bring grist to the mill for those who campaign for identical preparation of all skis and for those who demand greater financial aid from the International Ski Federation for small collectives.
The coach of the Norwegian men’s national team, Arild Monsendisagrees. “We have a team as big as seven other nations”he recalls. For him, if his protégés occupy the top of the ranking, it is first and foremost a story of « culture ». In other words, in Norway, there are plenty of “great young people who are involved in skiing”.
Martin Loewstrom Nyenget puts forward another reason, a strategic one. Countries like France aim to ramp up to the Tour de Ski. The Norwegians must shine from the first races if they want to participate in the Worlds at home in Trondheim (Norway): “The competition within the Norwegian team to make the world championships is so fierce that we push ourselves very hard. I think a lot of other nations will be at their best then.”
