– I do not want to be a guinea pig for a coach who has not had results with other athletes, and then Georgia was the best option. Here I have a training group that I learn a lot from and can reach for, Bullen says. She feels that she has seen war on the sidelines of her own federation and that the wrestling federation has not done enough to create a satisfactory training plan for her. – They have not done what they can, they can certainly do more. Confederations are nothing without practitioners, and practitioners are nothing without federations, says the 25-year-old and elaborates: – The federation has not given me an offer that can give results. They have made offers, but none of them were good enough for me. They support me financially if I have to vote, but on the coaching front they can not support me. MISSING SUPPORT: Grace Bullen. Photo: Terje Bendiksby / NTB She is at a training session in the small village of Bakuriani 1700 meters above sea level in Georgia. Since February 1, she has been training and bidding in the capital Tbilisi. The reason why the switch from Fredrikstad has moved over 400 km is simple. She was suddenly left as the only senior athlete on the women’s wrestling national team, and the association had to go on a coach hunt. – I was not happy with the one they presented. I want a trainer who can lift me so that I can now measure mine. The union also said no to the person I proposed, Bullen explains. She thinks the association has a coach who is better suited for the younger athletes who are betting on the Olympics in 2028, and not the Olympics in 2024 and the World Cup this year that Bullen is betting on. An irrelevant candidate Morten Sandnæs, general secretary of the Norwegian Wrestling Association, explains that Bullen’s candidate for the coaching job did not fit with the association’s desire to build a new women’s national team. GETS SUPPORT: Secretary General of the Norwegian Wrestling Federation says they still support Grace Bullen. Photo: Kyrre Lien / NTB – The coach she wanted was considered, but the association has been very busy building up a national team on the women’s side, such as on the boys’ side. When her desire was not willing to move to Norway to build up the national team, he was an unsuitable candidate. Had he been willing to move to Norway, he would have been an obvious candidate, says Sandnæs to news and adds: – The association definitely wants to facilitate in the best possible way for Grace, but at the same time we must think about the community and the rest of the national team . The practitioners she trains with in Georgia she has been familiar with after participating in several gatherings even before usemja with the Norwegian Wrestling Federation. Former world and European champion Zurabi Iakobishvili (30) in particular has been an important supporter. Fredriksstad Blad was the first to tell about the new life of the wrestler. IN TRAINING: The bull is right now at a training session in Bakuriani 1700 meters above sea level. Photo: Private Discrimination In Georgia, she feels, as the only girl, an integral part of the Georgian men’s national team. In Norway, on the other hand, she has felt that the association treats the men’s national team and the women’s national team differently. SOCIAL: Grace Bullen spends a lot of time with training buddy Zurabi Iakobishvili and the rest of the Georgian men’s national team. Photo: Private – Based on the result, I should have received much more than I have today. I am a practitioner, they (the gentlemen) are several. That means they can get more results, but I’m not far off. It shows that they manage to specialize a national team that gives results. I hope I can get the same offer, and I do not want to name names, but I have been treated unfairly by the association, says Bullen. She will receive follow-up through the Olympic summit and will compete for the Norwegian national team in the World Cup in September, but is otherwise on bare ground according to herself. – I have a trainer that I have to lay out for myself. I have to pay from my own pocket to have someone who helps me, so it goes a little beyond the partners I have gotten in the last two years, Bullen explains. NEW EVERYDAY: Bullen (bottom right) with his training buddies in Georgia. Photo: Private – She gets support from us Sandnæs in the association thinks it is not entirely true that she is standing on bare ground. – Even though Grace has chosen not to follow the national team model we are trying to build up, she does get support from us. Grace receives, among other things, financial support from the partner of the association Thon, by virtue of being an ambassador for the value project Equal Opportunities. She receives direct and indirect support that is more than some of the guys for both coaches and stays from us and the Olympic Summit, says the general secretary. – Wrestling is a small sport, so the fact that our athletes live from hand to mouth and have a difficult financial day applies to everyone, both women and men. Unfortunately, it is not only special for wrestling, but applies to many non-commercial sports in Norway, he follows up. Now Bullen’s plan is to continue betting in Georgia until the Olympics in Paris in two years. There they understand little of the treatment she receives from the Norwegian Wrestling Federation. – They think it is strange that I am treated like that and it is difficult for them to believe that it is as it is. Because I’m so used to it, I do not see it the same way they do. I should actually react to it more, but that’s how it is when you are treated like that over several years, she says.
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– I do not want to be a guinea pig – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcast schedule
