– It would have been a parody and a disaster, says Golberg to news about the thoughts that have been aired in Norwegian media recently. It started with a statement from Petter Northug himself: – I should do that team sprint in the WC. You can quote me on that. Today Erik Valnes is number one and I am number two to go team sprint with Klæbo in the WC, but things can happen. It’s like that in my book, said the 38-year-old in a VG interview on 16 August. – I would not have been able to put Klæbo in a bad situation, especially if you think about what I did in NM part two. If I had been told that I was going to do the first stage, I would have made a circus one last time in Granåsen, he added with a smile. “Give the gift that Northug deserves” Petter Northug has 13 WC gold medals on his track record from before. But if he starts during the WC in Granåsen in February next year, it will be ten years after he won his last WC gold, the five-mile in Falun in 2015. The last time he was in action in a championship was the WC five-mile in Lahti on 5 March 2017. MAKES NOTE: The nearest microphone is rarely far away when Petter Northug puts on his starting number. Photo: Ole Martin Wold / NTB After a few turbulent years away from the sport, Northug started a venture into long-distance running two years ago. Now he has therefore decided to also make a last leap in traditional cross-country skiing, and will start in the national season opener at Beitostølen in the hope that it can be the first step on the way to a WC on home soil. Already in February, Northug’s good friend, former TV2 journalist Ernst A. Lersveen, in a comment in Nettavisen, advocated that Northug should be given a free place in the WC five-mile. “Therefore, Nossum and others who decide withdrawals: dare they take the chance? Give the gift that Northug deserves!”, he wrote. Sundby: – A fantastic idea After Northug’s own performance in August, Martin Johnsrud Sundby went out in VG and said that he thought it “had created a lot of commitment, circus and attention for cross-country skiing if Northug was already selected to do the team sprint in WC together with Klæbo”. – So there are many good reasons why it is a fantastic idea, apart from the other runners who want to qualify for that stage. Unfortunately, there are five or six others who go faster than Petter on paper, they will feel that they are not taken seriously, Sundby said in the interview. FORMER RIVAL: Martin Johnsrud Sundby himself got to bask in the glory of the attention Petter Northug attracted as a cross-country skier for over ten years in the world elite. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB It is the thought that Petter Northug should be given a shortcut to the WC, whether it is in the five-mile or the team sprint, that makes Pål Golberg use words like “parody and disaster”. He is quite clear that Northug must qualify in the same way as everyone else. – I sincerely hope that Petter moves so quickly that he enters into a discussion, but it is starting to be a few years since 2015. But he is welcome to join hard sessions in Oslo. I’m sending an invitation, says Golberg to news after jumping into third place in the 10 km during the Norgesløpet at Jessheim on Saturday. When news confronts Northug with the words Golberg, he replies: “Same as him during the WC in Val di Fiemme. Only worse then.” He is referring to the WC team sprint in 2013, when Northug and Golberg were on Norway’s team – and Golberg collapsed. IN QUEUE FOR THE WC TEAM SPRINT: In 2017, Petter Northug was good enough to jump from Pål Golberg diagonally. The question is whether he still is. Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB – Many people regardless of Golberg share Northug’s point of view that Erik Valnes is currently the one who on paper is most likely to go in the team sprint with Johannes Høsflot Klæbo in Granåsen, but does not have Northug as the next name on the list . Instead, he points to himself and Harald Østberg Amundsen as the next candidates. Perhaps not so strange, considering that it was Pål Golberg who went together with Klæbo when Norway won a superb gold in the team sprint at the last WC, in Planica in 2023. Golberg does not disagree with Sundby’s argument that it would create commitment and circus with Northug at the start, but says: – I think a lot of people will come to the WC anyway. In the VG interview, Martin Johnsrud Sundby uses the declining interest and lack of profiles in cross-country skiing as an argument for making the road back to the WC trails easier for Northug. – In the old days it was good enough with “Gutta på tur”, now we lack the athletes who say something so we put the coffee down our throats. We have people who have won “a hundred World Cup races” who still go under the radar, said Sundby. Worry about sponsorship flight Golberg, who himself has 52 podium places in the World Cup, believes that today’s top runners are offering enough of themselves. – But it is clear, there is fierce competition. We have Norwegians who are the world’s best in the biggest sports in the world. That was definitely not the case when Marit Bjørgen and Bjørn Dæhlie continued in their time, he points out. Pål Golberg is nevertheless concerned about falling interest, and not least the flight of sponsors. Last year, the national cross-country team lost its major agreement with Norengros. After the World Cup, Sparebank 1 and Equinor say thank you. But giving Petter Northug a free ticket to World Cup participation is not a solution the five-mile fencing champion from Planica believes in. The national team manager also denies that will happen. – We will not take Petter Northug out in advance for the WC. Our traditional “season information” will be ready and approved as usual in mid-October. The criteria for selection to the World Cup and WC will be stated there. It is the very first result in the World Cup that qualifies for the WC, says Ulf Morten Aune to news. Published 30.09.2024, at 06.55
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