– We have had gymnasts who have performed well in the World Cup in the past, but it has not been long since it has been great to manage to reach the final. In other words, be among the top eight. That’s what gymnastics expert Sofie Bråten says. – This is completely historic for Norwegian gymnastics, she continues. EXPERT: Sofie Bråten. Photo: Christian Thomassen / NTB The weekend’s World Cup in Bulgaria’s Varna was a Norwegian success story. Sofus Heggemsnes secured the first ever Norwegian gold during Sunday’s final, and the great talent Sebastian Sponevik travels home with silver in his luggage. The medals were collected in the pole vault and vault respectively. World Cups are the biggest international competitions outside of championships. It is where elite gymnasts meet, and Bråten makes no secret of how impressed she is. – In addition to the fact that it was historically good on the men’s side, there was a Norwegian woman who did very well. Marie Nilsen Rønbeck made it to the final in the freestyle, where she came fifth. Then she really approaches medal level, and that’s really cool, says the expert enthusiastically. – Now the rest of the world is waking up Gold winner Heggemsnes is Norway’s most high-profile gymnast, but he has never before gone all the way to the top in World Cup competitions. Silver winner Sponevik is 18 years old, and the event in Bulgaria was only his second World Cup participation. – It’s incredibly cool to see that he now gets to test himself against international competition. He is quite a bit younger than Sofus, he is still in upper secondary school, but he still shows that he has something to do in the World Cup, says Bråten about Sponevik. GREAT TALENT: Getting to know Sponevik better here (report from 2022) For Heggemsnes, who won the gold by 0.1 points ahead of the next man, the WC is the next big thing. There are also Olympic tickets in the pot. National team manager Robert Hirsch is beside himself with excitement after the weekend’s performances. – These are absolutely fantastic results. A victory for Norway on the big stage. Norway’s national anthem was played for the first time. Now the rest of the world is opening its eyes to us. Now they understand what Norwegian gymnasts can achieve. Can influence the judges The national team manager hopes and believes that the top performances will be motivating for both national team athletes and juniors, and that the results will be noticed. – We sent them there to gain experience, and then we experience such enormous success. This is the best Norway has performed in the World Cup. It’s so fantastic, says a delighted Hirsch. SWING BAR: Heggemsnes is best in swing bar. Photo: Jon Super / AP He believes that the results will have major ripple effects for both the athletes in particular and Norwegian gymnastics in general. – It is important for a gymnast that the judges know your name. They try to be neutral, but it often turns out that performers who have done well before are paid well. They are slightly influenced by their own impression, and therefore such performances are more important than just the results in isolation, explains Hirsch, who adds that referee bias was a bigger problem before.
ttn-69
– Now the rest of the world will open their eyes – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
