– We were reasonably “shaky”. It was very dramatic. You get shaky every now and then. This is how coach Atle Karlsen Mortvedt describes the incident that happened in the South African city of Dullstroom. A whole team of Norwegian athletics talent has been there for the last three weeks at a training camp. But on the penultimate night, Andreas Fjell Halvorsen (17) was supposed to brush his teeth before going to bed. When he looked up at the ceiling, it was full of smoke. – You really only think about telling the rest and getting out, says the athlete, who took part in the cross-country European Championships in December, to news. – They ran out into the nearest boxing ring. They took their passports with them, that was all they could take with them. Then they ran to notify me. It took three minutes. By then it was too late to go to the room, it was fully on fire, describes Mortvedt. IN RUIN: This is what the room looked like the next day. Photo: private Lost valuable belongings The trainer, who was responsible for the boys at the training camp, described a smoke that only got denser and denser, so dense and toxic that they had to get away immediately. – We were lucky. I was watching the Sports Gala when the boys were banging on the window. Had this happened half an hour or three quarters of an hour later when everyone had fallen asleep, it could have gone very badly, says Mortvedt. DRAMATIC: This is how coach Atle Karlsen Mortvedt describes the incident. Photo: private The hotel they bid on is called Highlander Hotell Dullstroom. The fire is said to have started in the flat close to where the Norwegian athletes lived. All athletes got out safely without significant injuries. Parents were contacted immediately after the situation was under control. According to the Norwegian team, none of the other guests should have been injured either. TRAINING CAMP: A number of Norwegian athletics talents have spent the last few weeks in South Africa on a training camp. Photo: private But trainers and athletes lost most of the belongings they had with them on the trip, such as running shoes, lactate measurements and electronic equipment worth several thousand kroner. – It’s a bit awkward to lose all your things. But the most important thing is that it went well with everyone, says athlete Andreas Fjell Halvorsen. – Scary He was the first to discover the fire, while teammate Mikkel Bakken (17) helped alert other teammates and hotel guests. – Mikkel shouted that you had to bring your passport with you. Everyone took their passports with them and ran out, says Halvorsen. Bakken says that the incident is something that has affected them and that they talk about a lot. – It was quite scary then and there. The most important thing was to get to safety, but we experienced it as quite serious at the time, he says to news. Coach Mortvedt says that they were left to fend for themselves, and that the fire brigade had not arrived when the Norwegian camp left the hotel. Fortunately, there were several Norwegian athletes in the city. – We spent the night with them on some sofas. We then got to borrow training equipment and even had a good session the next day, says Bakken. A long flight from Johannesburg to Oslo awaits on Monday. – It was strange to have to pack on the way home and only have a plastic bag with things. It was special, but the boys took it well. We were lucky that it went well with everyone, that was the most important thing, says Bakken.
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