King Harald and his crew on the boat “Sira” will sail the World Championships for 8-meters in Geneva, Switzerland at the end of this month. On the list of participants, King Harald is listed as the skipper of “Sira”, together with a crew of six more people. The World Championships for 8-meters will take place in Geneva from 25 to 30 July. The castle confirms, on questions from news, the king’s participation. – The king is scheduled to participate in the world championship later this summer, says assistant communications manager Sven Gjeruldsen at the Royal Court. Has been in training Thus, the king will participate in the World Cup five months after he turned 85 in February this year – and a year and a half after he underwent leg surgery in January last year. The king was admitted to Rikshospitalet in January last year to be operated on for an injured tendon over his right knee. – The king is in good shape, says Gjeruldsen now. – The king and crew have trained with “Sira” in the inner Oslofjord throughout the spring. King Harald and his crew in «Sira» finished in third place in their class when the World Championships in sailing for 8-meters ended at Lake Constance in Germany in 2018. Photo: FELIX KASTLE / DPA / NTB Norwegian Sailing Federation: – Fantastic fun – We in Norwegian sailing appreciates enormously that the king is active even at the age of 85, says Per Christian Bordal, general secretary of the Norwegian Sailing Association, to news. – Sailing can be practiced in many ways, we have so many different boat classes. And in the 8-meter class, energetic 85-year-olds can also participate and assert themselves. So it is absolutely fantastic fun that the king will be with, says Bordal. Bordal describes King Harald as a good ambassador for the sport. He believes the king, with his many years of sailing experience, still has good opportunities to be able to assert himself in the World Cup in the 8-meter class. When King Harald and his crew on board “Sira” participated in the World Championships for 8-meters in Germany four years ago, they finished in third place. – I play most and best at sea There is no doubt that King Harald thrives in a boat. When the granddaughter Princess Ingrid Alexandra’s 18th birthday was celebrated with a magnificent gala dinner at the Palace in June, the king gave clear advice to the jubilee: – Do not forget to play! At least I have good experience with that. I play, as you know, most and best at sea. And fortunately you thrive there too, said the king. But it has not just been play. King Harald has had a long and eventful sports career – which thus continues with this summer’s World Cup participation. He has been called the “Sailor King”. He has been an active sailor for 75 years. Prince Harald, as he was then, was only ten years old when he competed as a crew for the first time, according to Kongehuset.no. King Harald began sailing early. Here he is with his mother, Crown Princess Märtha, in the summer of 1939. Photo: NTB World Cup gold and Olympic downturn Since then, there have been countless competitions and championships, and he has won both the European Championships and the World Cup. However, in a meeting with another world champion, Karsten Warholm – who has won both World Cup and Olympic gold in the 400 meter hurdles – King Harald revealed that he is not proud of what he has achieved, despite previous World Cup victories. – No not really. Had I achieved something in the Olympics, I would have been happy, but now I am not happy. That’s the big failure. Some Olympic medal, the king replied candidly. For King Harald has participated in the Olympics three times, in 1964, 1968 and 1972, but neither time was there a medal. The then Crown Prince Harald was the flag bearer for Norway during the Olympics in Tokyo in 1964. Photo: NTB Ahead of the Olympics in Munich in 1972, the king and his crew were big favorites. The descent when there was no medal was so great that he took a longer break from sailing. But since then he resumed the sport he loves so much, and has participated in new regattas and championships, at the same time as he has been first crown prince and then king full time. – I’ve never been a top athlete! I have never just done it, said King Harald when he met Karsten Warholm in the news series “Karsten and Leif”. Warholm then thought that the king was too modest. – I read it as if you wanted it, and you have won and thus you have the mentality of a top athlete, but in a role that makes you have to be His majesty as well. But you would be a top athlete if you could choose? asked Warholm. – Yes, I would have been the opposite, King Harald replied then. In 2017, King Harald (left) participated in the World Cup sailing on Hankø with «Sira». The championship was held in connection with the king’s 80th anniversary celebration that year. Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB
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King Harald will participate in the World Cup in sailing – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
