– I am perhaps surprised that they do not use the expertise of athletes who have performed before in the team. That’s what Therese Johaug says to news and points out that former athletes, who are still close to the active ones, tend to have a different approach than the trainers. – Perhaps especially on the girls’ side, with all the physical challenges and everything that can happen, she continued. Last week Torbjörn Nordvall pointed out in a comment in Nettavisen that Norway should engage both Marit Bjørgen and Therese Johaug as a crisis team for the Norwegian cross-country women. – Crisis teams are hard to come by. A lot has happened in recent years. Last year they did well, and then there are things that make it impossible to achieve the same results this year as last year, points out Johaug, who now works as a cross-country expert at news. But Bjørgen has already said that she is willing to consider a role if asked by the national team management. The problem has never been. Critical of the national team management – Not contacting Marit is a service error and nonchalant, Nordvall elaborated further to news last week. CRITICAL: Commentator Torbjörn Nordvall. Photo: news Johaug agrees in many ways: – I am surprised that Marit has not been asked. She is a historic Olympian and there is a reason why she is. It’s because she was a raw skier and has a lot of experience to be able to contribute to the team, says Johaug. – Have you been asked? – I have not received a request to join and help. Sjur Ole (Svarstad) called me last year before the WC and wondered how I trained during a stay at altitude before a championship. It’s the only thing, so to speak, he says. National team manager wants dialogue National team coordinator Ulf Morten Aune says that Nordvall’s statements “must stand for him”, but points out that both Bjørgen and Johaug contribute to the sport of cross-country skiing. Among other things, they were part of the selection that presented the report on Norwegian women’s cross-country skiing at the autumn meeting of the cross-country committee last autumn. – Several of the athletes on the team still have relationships with them. As previously communicated, we will contact them in advance of our evaluations. These start immediately after the season is over, says Aune to news. He also points out that Johaug has not completely closed the door on a comeback before the WC in Trondheim in a year’s time. – She has also not rejected coming back as an athlete. In any case, we want to have a good dialogue with Therese in the future, says Aune. NATIONAL TEAM COORDINATOR: Ulf Morten Aune. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB Wants to contribute to the national team But like Bjørgen, Johaug is willing to lend a hand to the women’s national cross-country team, which is in a rare bad season. – I want to be involved and contribute with my knowledge if that is desirable. I have been in top sport for 15 years and have gained a lot of experience. Johaug continued: – It is one thing to start in the elite team, one may have to start below with the recruitment. From the junior national team upwards, she points out. – What specifically could you contribute? – It must be the experience as a top athlete. It can be everything from training to technique, to how one works in a team to bring out the potential in everyone. HAS A GOLDEN FORMULA: Therese Johaug with her three Olympic golds from Beijing in 2022. Photo: Fredrik Varfjell / NTB – In a coaching role or in another role? – Coaching is a very big responsibility. If you are going to do this, you have to do it properly. It doesn’t help to come to a meeting and hold a lecture, and then not talk anything more with the athletes. I think there are little things here and there that can be picked up over the course of a season, and that can be steered in the right direction. Women’s national team coach Stig Rune Kveen told news last week that they “were not afraid to invite Marit (Bjørgen) to a meeting, so that she can share her experiences.” Johaug, for his part, thinks it is a contribution that has zero value. – Do you want a role where you can contribute with continuity over time? – Yes, it can help you achieve the results you want in the long term. It doesn’t help to go in with a fire extinguisher every now and then. This must be worked on all the time, over several months and years. I myself have been part of it and done it on the national team from 2009 to 2015-16, under Egil Kristiansen. The results all the girls got year after year after year. Emil Gukild has a dream of completing Birken in under 3:30. When Therese Johaug sees the skiing, she bursts into laughter. – No doubt The best Norwegian woman in the World Cup overall is Heidi Weng in 8th place, but she sat out the World Cup weekend in Goms, Switzerland, due to illness. Kristine Stavå’s Skistad, which is Norway’s strongest sprint card, also chose to stay over in Switzerland. For the rest of the Norwegian women, the sprint race was a failure on Saturday. No one advanced from the quarter-finals to the semi-finals. This has not happened since February 2022. The 20 kilometers on Sunday was also a Norwegian downhill. No Norwegian made the top ten for the first time in a distance race this season. The closest was Margrethe Bergane in 12th place, closely followed by last year’s World Cup winner Tiril Udnes Weng in 14th place. She has missed large parts of the season due to illness, but still shows a rising form curve. – There is no doubt that the national team girls have performed far below what we expect and what they themselves expect, concludes Johaug. Last season, the Norwegian women’s team could show nine individual World Cup victories and Tiril Udnes Weng the World Cup in total.
ttn-69
– It doesn’t help with firefighting – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
