Fredrik Bekken new national team manager in rowing – lay flat after the rowing row – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcast schedule

The Norwegian Rowing Association confirms to news that Fredrik Bekken has been appointed as the new national team manager. The former Olympic medal winner comes from his job as national team coach. He had held that role since January, and since then he has both been involved in and experienced the uproar that has taken place for the Norwegian rowing team. – We have done a lot of things right, but in the open we have missed something, says Bekken to news. NEW JOB: Fredrik Bekken is the new national team manager for the rowers. Photo: Carl Andreas Wold / news The Norwegian highlights came at the start of the season. Mainly from the double scull of Thea Helseth and Inger Kavlie, who in April took EC gold and in June won the World Cup overall – feats no Norwegian women’s boats had previously managed. The row was nevertheless already underway after Jenny Rørvik was kicked out of the EC just one hour after she came second in the World Cup together with Helseth. Then Rørvik was also left for the Olympics and chose to give up. And the hardships for Norwegian rowers will only continue. Both on water and on land. – It is dramatic that the Olympics were a huge disappointment for the rowers without a single Norwegian medal, and earlier this month VG wrote that as many as eight out of ten Norwegian Olympic rowers could end up giving up. – It is dramatic, acknowledges Bekken and says that there will probably be a “big drop out” among the national team rowers. OLYMPIC EXPERIENCE: Fredrik Bekken (left) and Olaf Tufte with the Olympic silver in double sculls in Sydney in 2000. Photo: Bjørn Sigurdsøn / NTB He points out that it is natural for someone to give up after an Olympic season, and for Ask Jarl Tjøm and Lars Martin Benske, for example, are the lightweight class they rowed in Paris now withdrawn from the Olympic programme. For others, on the other hand, their careers may still be young and the Olympic future looks bright, but the communication from the Rowing Association, lack of facilitation, many coach replacements and unclear Olympic selections may still lead to several of them giving up. – There is no doubt that we missed something. Communication and clarity, that’s where we’ve failed, says Bekken. – What emerges clearly from the evaluation we are in the middle of now is that the communication has not been good enough all the way to the athletes, says vice-president and head of the top sports committee (TIU) in the Norwegian Rowing Federation, Morten Bergesen, to news. ROW LEADER: Morten Bergesen. Photo: Annika Byrde / NTB – We are addressing that now, and I believe that with a national team manager in place it will be both clearer and clearer going forward, he continued. Grateful athlete In his new job as national team manager – a role no one had in the Olympic season – Bekken is aware that it will be important to have a chat with the athletes and hear what is needed for them to persevere. Among them are the reigning EC gold winners Thea Helseth and Inger Kavlie, who did not live up to their own medal hopes and came sixth in the Olympic final. DOWNTOWN IN THE OLYMPICS: Thea Helseth and Inger Kavlie after the Olympic double sculls final in Paris Photo: Fredrik Varfjell / NTB Helseth is clear that it means a lot to her that the federation and the top sports committee have now acknowledged the problem with communication. – This is what we devote our whole lives to, so that they listen to us is very nice, says Helseth to news. She says that she is still in a thought process for what the next few years entail. – In any case, it is positive that we are getting such a good man in that position here, Helseth says of Bekken. – Even if you haven’t made up your mind, does it affect them opening up about the fact that not everything has been good? – Yes, it does. Both the fact that they listen to us, but also that we can perhaps have a little more security around us in the future, says Helseth. READY FOR INTERVIEWS: Fredrik Bekken. Photo: Carl Andreas Wold / news – Being with Thea and Inger will undoubtedly be very important to me. I really hope we can get them on board. In any case, I will do everything I can to get them on board, says Bekken and concludes: – They are simply our spearheads. Bringing them along is important to maintain the pressure in the group, and not least to show what is needed for those who come under. Published 16.10.2024, at 08.12



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