Because after 15 individual races in the World Cup, there is one thing that is quite clear on the men’s side of international cross-country skiing: Norway is devouring the trophy. 68 percent of the prize money goes to Norwegian athletes. The Tour de Ski was a money party for the Norwegian athletes who placed high in the summary – and eight of the ten best-paid athletes in the current season are Norwegian. At the top is Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, who has brought in NOK 2 million in the 2022/23 season. These earn the most in the 2022/23 season These ten men have earned the most kroner: Johannes Høsflot Klæbo – 2,000,000 Pål Golberg – 1,030,000 Simen Hegstad Krüger – 949,000 Federico Pellegrino – 718,000 Hans Christer Holund – 659,000 Didrik Tønseth – 411,000 Sjur Røthe – 336,000 Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget – 224,000 Even Northug – 217,000 Richard Jouve – 196,000 ** The prize money is paid out in Swiss francs. They have been converted to Norwegian kroner according to the exchange rate on 8 January 2023 – where 1 Swiss franc is 10.79 Norwegian kroner – and rounded to the nearest thousand. Norway has received NOK 6.8 million at today’s rate. The closest nation is Italy with NOK 940,000, approximately NOK 130,000 more than Sweden. Now several people believe that the Norwegian dominance has become a problem. The German cross-country manager, Peter Schlickenrieder, believes it is time to limit Norwegians’ access to the World Cup: – As I have said several times: We should do as in the World Cup where the four best from each nation go, as well as perhaps the world champion and the overall winner of the World Cup. It’s enough. Then we have good competition, says Schlickenrieder to news after the Tour de Ski’s last race. GERMAN CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING PROFILE: Peter Schlickenrieder. Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB – I am happy for the Norwegians that they have the best skiers in the world. It makes no difference whether it is the Norwegians or the Russians. It makes no sense that they have the twelve best runners at the start. People lose interest when the first twelve are from the same nation. Gets support from the Italian team The German aims for the quotas in the national races where Norway has been able to field twelve runners at the start. Ten athletes started the Tour de Ski. Six men finished in the top ten. Norway’s sprint coach Arild Monsen shakes his head at the proposal. He takes a few seconds to think before answering: – I have one answer: I am eagerly waiting for what Peter Schlickenrieder will come up with next. Beyond that, I have no comment. But even if Schlickenrieder does not get a hearing from the north, compatriot and Italy coach Markus Cramer partially agrees with him: – They are too strong and there are too many Norwegians at the start. FIS must think about the quotas for the World Cup, he says. CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING EXPERTS: Italy coach Markus Cramer and TV 2’s Petter Northug. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB – First we have to “push” to help the smaller nations more, then we can think about the quotas, smiles Cramer, who is currently coaching the nation that is doing second best in the World Cup after Norway. The German believes the dominance contributes to weakening the product in central Europe, although the situation is different in Italy now. Pellegrino and shooting star Simone Mocellini have shown that it is possible to blend in at the top. Enormous differences In 17 races, Norway has taken 36 of the 51 podium places. Italy has nine, France three, Sweden two, Great Britain one. Last season, Norway was also superb, but with the Russians at the start, the differences were considerably smaller. Then Norway ran away with 46 percent of the prize pot. Russia took 22 percent. The rest of the world 32 percent. – We naturally miss the second best nation. That is also part of the reason. I think for all sports it is stupid that we don’t have the Russians. I hope the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will do something about it soon. Because again, what can a performer do? They are not responsible for the war, says Cramer, who coached Russia between 2010 and 2022. Klæbo: – It’s good to be Italian Johannes Høsflot Klæbo is the season’s top scorer so far. The Norwegian won six of seven stages and the Tour de Ski overall, in addition to a further four World Cup victories earlier in the season. He suggests that the debate is unvarnished. – If you do cross-country skiing, you can say that. There have been other weekends, such as at Beitostølen where there is a classic sprint where there are not even Norwegians on the podium, says Klæbo to news. TOP EARNERS: Simen Hegstad Krüger, Johannes Høsflot Klæbo and Hans Christer Holund went home from the Tour de Ski with honor and glory, as well as some prize money for brilliant performances. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB He thinks it is right and reasonable that it is a topic, but feels that it comes up every single weekend Norwegian skiers do well: – It is a discussion every time we go fast, then it is not mentioned once the times we don’t. I also think on the days there is no dominance, it is good to be Italian or French too. Everyone who stands at the start has a goal to do the best possible, says Klæbo. FIS: Decided together with the athletes Race director of the FIS, Michal Lamplot, is concerned that there is agreement that everyone wants as many nations as possible to be competitive. – At the same time, we cannot blame Norway for being so good or for having such good results. That’s how it is. They do a fantastic job, says FIS race director Michal Lamplot, when news asks about the Norwegian dominance. RACE DIRECTOR: Michal Lamplot in FIS. Photo: JOHANNA WALLEN / BILDBYRÅN He explains that the prize pool has increased gradually over the past few years. They have ensured that more trickles down to those behind the best, but you still don’t get rich from being in the middle tier of the results lists. – The distribution was decided together with the athletes and athlete representatives, who have helped us draw up a proposal. That process is complete, so it won’t change. Everyone agrees that the athletes should get as much as possible, but it is the organizers who pay this money. So we can’t just say we want to double the prize money, even if we want to, says Lamplot.
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Norway runs away with the money bag – Germans want to throttle access – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
