– It is very surprising and does not look like the same team, says Jurij Borodavko, after observing how the Norwegian men’s national team performed in the World Cup in Lillehammer and Beitostølen respectively. RUSSIA COACH: Yuri Borodavko leads the training group with Aleksandr Bolshunov, Denis Spitsov and the super couple Aleksandr Terentjev and Natalya Nepryaeva. Photo: Torstein Bøe / NTB From having delivered victory in three races and taking eight out of nine podium places, there were “only” two out of three victories at Beitostølen. In the sprint, there was not a single Norwegian to be seen on the podium. That makes the successful coach, who is responsible for the stars Aleksandr Bolshunov and Natalya Nepryaeva, raise his eyebrows. – That is why I say that the Norwegian national team is a team that has a clear hierarchy. Here, performers can be ordered not to participate, or to assume a special role. Northug: – Not a ravenous person. It’s the TV channel Match! who asks the question, who leads Borodavko into the reasoning about stable order. They refer to Bolsjunov congratulating Klæbo on the crystal ball for the overall World Cup before the season, but that it is now Pål Golberg who leads the summary. – Literally a week ago they looked the strongest, so next weekend they show a completely different speed. What happened? It seems to me that it is an attempt to preserve the interest of the rest of the world. An order to calm down a bit… THE SOVEREIGN LEADS: Pål Golberg leads the World Cup with 756 points after three race weekends. Johannes Høsflot Klæbo follows closest with 430 points. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB – I don’t know what Borodavko’s IQ is, but he’s not a glutton. It sounded very stupid, laughs Even Northug to news. He finished ninth after podium places in the sprint in Ruka and Lillehammer, but denies receiving stable orders from the coaching team: – No, I haven’t. I’ve been a little too spoiled with the results. I was really disappointed when I came ninth at Beitostølen. I might have been satisfied with ninth place before, but it was not a good day, explains Northug, who says that he is not shocked. – They say so many strange things in Russia that I am simply just… fascinated. Klæbo snorts at the claim Before this weekend’s race in Davos, Golberg has fallen ill, while Klæbo has been declared healthy and ready to start. The big star of international cross-country skiing snorts at the claim from Russia: – We have probably become robots too, so that we can be controlled by remote control and decide when to go fast and slow. I can deny that quite clearly. We do our best to stay healthy and try to go the ski runs we can go, Klæbo grins. LAUGHTER: Johannes Høsflot Klæbo in cheerful passion with Even Northug after the sprint victory at Lillehammer. Due to illness, the former has only run one of the last five individual races in the World Cup. Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB – He will be allowed to think and say as much as he wants. I know I couldn’t care less about that. – Do you think he means it? – I know the south. He may be saying it just to make some headlines. If that’s what he means, then he should be allowed to mean it. He has to vouch for that. He explains why he has run fewer races than desirable at the start of the season. He stood over two races at Lillehammer and the entire Beitostølen weekend last week. – It was probably a choice I made quite early on. I saw that I was nowhere near being healthy enough. I think it’s crazy that Pål is sick now. I don’t think it’s funny at all. Sprint national team coach Arild Monsen smiles a little when he hears what his Russian colleague has said: – That problem is unknown to me, and I really hope it will be. We must be kind to each other and not collide et cetera, but of course everyone must be allowed to do what they can, says Monsen to news – and elaborates on what he contributes: – I give a little about race planning and tactics, but those who have the main responsibility is what is out and about. There are no stable orders for them to go quietly. PS! The World Cup in Davos consists of sprint freestyle races on Saturday and 20 kilometers on Sunday. news Sport broadcasts on the radio, while Viaplay has the rights to the television broadcasts.
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Bolshunov coach accuses Norway of fooling around – gets a clear answer from Klæbo and Northug
