– If I had started thinking about all that, I would have just been pissed off. So I try not to spend so much energy on that, says Jan Thomas Jenssen. He has just completed a physical test at the roller ski mill in Granåsen, and talks to news about the national team’s failure and its consequences. The 28-year-old from Hommelvika in Trøndelag had his long-awaited international breakthrough as a skier almost a year ago. He entered the team as a reserve for the World Cup opening in Ruka – and went all the way to the top in the joint start over 20 km freestyle. The following weekend he stepped in as anchorman on the Norwegian relay team in Gällivare, and Norway went to victory. During the Tour de Ski, he had the best stage time when he came in third in the pursuit start in Toblach. But when the Skiing Association presented the national team for the 2024/25 season on 24 April, with the WC on home ground in Trondheim as the big highlight, Jan Thomas Jenssen was not among the ten men’s names on the list. VRAKA: Jan Thomas Jenssen was at the top of the podium after two World Cup races last year. It was not enough for a place in the national team. Photo: Anders Skjerdingstad / news – Could have ruined a lot of things – I was pissed off, yes. I could have ruined a lot of things. I felt I had something to do there. – Did you destroy something? – No, I didn’t. One person who understands Jenssen’s reaction is Petter Northug. – I can recognize myself very much in Jan Thomas, and that is frustrating. You feel like the world is working against you. It can be demotivating, says Northug to news. He points out that Jenssen was not the only Norwegian men’s runner who delivered at the international top level last winter, without getting a place on the national team as a reward. Northug: – Can break you Mattis Stenshagen, Henrik Dønnestad and Gjøran Tefre were all on the podium in the World Cup race, but without being offered a place in the national team. – They are at the point in their career that they should join the national team. Because soon it’s too late, and time goes by very quickly as a top athlete. And when you don’t have an offer, it’s something that can break you a little mentally too, says Northug. WC OUTSIDER: Petter Northug himself has a faint hope of going to the WC in Trondheim. Photo: Anders Skjerdingstad / news – Should they have received a better offer from the Ski Association? – They should certainly have received a better offer. Northug elaborates: – It could be that we are missing out on some fantastic careers, quite simply. They could have had some fantastic years as athletes, which they miss out on because the offer for them is not good enough, he says. This is a concern that is not shared by the leader of the cross-country skiing committee in the Ski Association, Torbjørn Skogstad. – I am of the opinion that these runners, as far as I know, have good offers. Jan Thomas is on a team under our umbrella in our organisation. As far as I know, the other three have chosen to turn down the Elon team and have chosen private ventures, which they think are better, says Skogstad. Tefre is part of Team Aker Dæhlie, while Stenshagen and Dønnestad are part of Team Swix. Have to pay property So what are the advantages of being in the national team? Firstly, the athletes receive follow-up from the trainers and support staff of the national team. They get to compete against the best cross-country skiers in Norway at meetings covered by the Ski Association. The national team runners also receive a salary, while Jan Thomas Jenssen has to pay property to be part of the regional team Team Elon Midt-Norge. He must also pay expenses related to competitions. The national team runners are also prioritized in selection for the first World Cup weekends, which are important qualifying races for the WC. This is what Jenssen likes least. He believes the national season opener at Beitostølen next weekend should be an American outlet for the world cup opener in Ruka. In other words, those who go the fastest on Beitostølen should get a World Cup ticket. – Even if you are in the national team, you can’t just walk into Beitostølen and think you have a free place. I hope they don’t think like that, those who will take the team out either. Because I think that the level in Norway is so great that the best must be allowed to cross-country ski anyway, says Jenssen. Skogstad points out that despite this, there are many runners outside the national team who get the chance in the World Cup, like Jenssen a year ago. The rationale: Finances and quotas At the same time, Skogstad underlines that the national team runners are selected for a reason, namely that they are the runners the national team management has the most faith in to be able to perform in the championship. DEFENDS VRAKING: The head of the cross-country committee, Torbjørn Skogstad, believes it is right to only have ten men’s runners on the national team. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB – Then the coaches on whom we place a great deal of responsibility must be allowed to set their priorities in terms of how they think the best way to become good and be at the top when you come to Trondheim is, says Skogstad . – But why are there 10 and not 14 runners on the national team? – It has something to do with economics and the financial framework. We have very high expectations for the runners we take out to the national team in Norway, both we and most people. Then we must be sure that they have good framework conditions around them to achieve the goals and expectations that we set for them, says Skogstad. The committee leader points out that it is also a matter of Norway’s basic quota in the World Cup being no more than six runners per competition. WORKING ON: Under the supervision of coach Kristian Skrødal (back), Jan Thomas Jenssen is doing everything to prove that the national team’s scrapping was wrong – and that he should go to the WC on his home turf in Trondheim. Photo: Anders Skjerdingstad / news Wants “faenskap” Jan Thomas Jenssen has no intention of letting the national team break down. Instead, he has decided to use it as motivation – and to turn it into something positive. And the positive thing is that he has been given the opportunity to continue working with his coach Kristian Skrødal, in familiar surroundings around the WC facility in Granåsen. – I have a team that means a lot to me, and a coach that means an incredible amount to me. To start changing it before a WC season is perhaps stupid. So maybe it’s okay that I’m where I am right now, says the man who dreams of big things at the turn of February/March. – My dream is to win a medal, says Jan Thomas Jenssen. It is a dream Petter Northug hopes will come true. – There is no other wish than that Jan Thomas now strikes back, becomes world champion, and the whole of Hommelvika comes with their tractors and creates enmity in Granåsen. And that such a type of runner shows the way towards a WC on home ground, says Northug. Published 19.11.2024, at 21.46 Updated 19.11.2024, at 21.54
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