– On Friday night, Amalie discovered that an athlete below her on the list rejoiced over the World Cup place on Instagram, so then Amalie realized that she must also have received the offer, Hans Jørgen Borgen told news. He is the sports coordinator in Ullensaker / Kisa, the club for the World Cup wreck Amalie Sæten. – She did not understand anything. I then contacted the sports manager and he confirmed that she had received the offer, and he said that it was his decision not to take her out. But we did not really get enough justification, Borgen explains. Because in the beginning, Sæten was just not qualified when the deadline for the World Cup selection expired on June 26, but was the next woman on the list. Three days later, a place opened up, and the athletics association was offered to take Sæten to the championships in Eugene. SAY NO: Sports director of the athletics association, Erlend Slokvik, says there was an overall assessment behind the decision. Photo: Fredrik Hagen / NTB So they said no. – It is an overall assessment. When we had been given a frame and a deadline, we thought it was wrong to bring in some new ones. We would stick to the deadline, knowing it would be a bit random and unfair. Therefore, we upheld the decision that they should be qualified within the deadline, explains sports manager of the athletics association, Erlend Slokvik. – Special staff treatment – To me he only said that they had chosen to take into account the original deadline, but that is not enough justification. The deadline was just something World Athletics set for feedback if one wanted a place, not a deadline that was set by NFIF (Norwegian Athletics Association) in advance, says Borgen. But it is not just the decision itself that he is critical of. – I react to two things. Both that they have said no to the World Cup place, and that they have not informed Amalie about the offer. It is special personnel treatment, to put it that way, he says. news has been in contact with Amalie Sæten, but she did not want to comment on the case. Slokvik acknowledges that it took too long before Sæten found out about the offer. – I’m talking to her coach. That’s what I did that night. He was in the United States and it was still day. It took a little too long before I got to talk to her about it, but we had contact with her coaches before we decided that she did not get that invitation, Slokvik said. – Can have a great financial impact Borgen does not understand why the association chose to say no to the World Cup place, and meiner Sæten now misses important learning and experience. – For a practitioner, it is demanding and tough to invest in full time. Just being in a World Cup can have a big financial impact. One becomes more attractive to sponsors as well, he explains. – In addition, there are complaints that too few women invest, but it is a known fact that women reach the top later than men. How will the association make the women persevere until they reach the top level, when they are treated like this ?, Borgen asks. PROMISING: 24-year-old Sæten took silver in the National Championships and thus climbed so far up the rankings that she received a World Cup offer. Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum / NTB That Sweden chose to send an athlete to the WC who was in the same situation as Sæten, only gives Borgen more questions. – It is several weeks to the World Cup, it was no problem for us to get there. Sweden made it happen. – It does not mean that we do not make it happen, but that we had decided on a deadline. We have said that it should be within that deadline and be the same for everyone. We could have done it, but thought it was wrong in principle, Slokvik answers. For Borgen and Ullensaker / Kisa, this case is something they will soon forget. – It is very special for us as a club too. We as a club have experienced that athletes who come with as the last have gone to the finals formerly in international championships.
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