Everything is definitely not as it should be in Norwegian skiing. And just before the traditional start of the season for cross-country skiing on Beitostølen, there was another contribution to the unrest. This time from the ski president himself, in the form of a rather sensational interview with Adresseavisen. Under the heading “If I just have to keep putting out fires, I have to think about whether I want this.” ski president Tove Moe Dyrhaug vents her frustration over the series of challenges that obviously prevent her from being the ski president she wanted to be. And as many of us also hoped and believed that she would stay. Right up to this point, it may turn out. BE OF GOOD COURAGE: Dyrhaug smiled from ear to ear during the WC in Planica last season. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB An early application for resignation? It may have been intended as a kind of cabinet question to all the sources of noise in the union, an all too clear and public call to gather ranks and put an end to the never-resting turbulence. So a kind of “If you don’t stop arguing, opposing and leaking information soon, I can never function properly as ski president.” It still appears much more like a surprisingly early application for resignation. And maybe that was exactly what it was. This type of complaint – and it cannot be described as anything else – is only suitable for undermining an authority that the former RBK leader Dyrhaug has apparently struggled to build particularly well during his time as ski president. In a time that demands managerial responsibility to some degree, Dyrhaug instead goes to great lengths to give it up entirely. To use her own jargon: The fire marshal himself cannot complain that there are fires to put out. Imagine if it was Larger Cabinet Questions is a term borrowed from the slightly more comprehensive Storting policy. The government asks for explicit confidence from the Storting – otherwise it will resign. If you don’t make the job easier very soon, I can’t take it anymore. It would have been interesting to hear the reactions if Jonas Gahr Støre had said the same, as competency issues and unseemly opinion polls appeared in the head of the government’s line. A prime minister could never send out a signal that it is so exhausting to have so many tasks in the job that one is unsure whether one can bear this for much longer – just over six months before a possible re-election. Trond Giske would write a book about it. And the verdict of the voters would be merciless. It can also quickly become so for Dyrhaug. And she probably knows it very well herself. HOLDING OUT: Jonas Gahr Støre could not say the same. Here he completes the Birkebeiner ride in 2015, despite a fall and concussion. Photo: NTB Because there is something genuinely stated about Dyrhaug’s lament from his more or less home turf in Selbu. She has obviously not achieved the cultural change she is calling for in the union. Perhaps this has also given fertile ground to the critics of her excessively passive role as the association’s top elected leader, including in the process that ended with the alpinist Lucas Braathen ceasing to be active altogether. It is no use blaming an unmanageable branch structure when she has been elected precisely to take responsibility for its functioning. There is no point in saying that her ski board should only deal with ongoing conflicts when they are raised from branch level to the board. It is of no use when the association’s future existence is at stake. Very special circumstances One of the things Dyrhaug has been criticized for is giving Johannes Høsflot Klæbo a blank authorization to go to the World Cup, even though he chose to decline the national team. In doing so, she went in practice against the association’s regulations and her own board’s brand new decision. “NO DOUBT”: Said Dyrhaug when she was asked if Klæbo was allowed to go to the World Cup even though he declined a place in the national team. Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB In the interview with Adressa, she repeats the claim that she believes there were in fact special circumstances, which are the requirement to get an exception to this rule, which justified the statement. It is still impossible to see what these circumstances were. But it gives a feeling that it was a more deliberate act than it seemed at the time. And that it was a statement intended to help the cross-country committee, which then did not have to deal with how to get the world’s best cross-country skier to go to the World Cup. Or how to explain that Kristine Stavås Skistad and Astrid Øyre Slind did not have the same restrictions as Klæbo. Although they too have chosen to be outside the national team. It is an untidy signal, which several runners and former active participants have also been aware of. And it is apt to reinforce the impression of a cross-country president more than a unifying figure for the whole of skiing. Supporting actress Dyrhaug says in the interview that she is concerned with role understanding. And that is obviously important. Among other reasons, there were many of us who believed and believe she was the right choice when she took over the presidency from Erik Røste in 2022. Dyrhaug could have become head of the World Ski Championships in Trondheim in 2025, but chose instead to agree to take over the management of the entire fragmented Ski-Norway. It seems like she regrets becoming president today. AUTHORITY: Former ski president Erik Røste had something Dyrhaug lacks. Photo: NTB Røste had received criticism from an evaluation committee, led by state attorney Katharina Rise, precisely for a lack of understanding of the role, also in connection with the ongoing conflict within the union. But no one doubted Røste’s authority as president, regardless of whether one liked the way he exercised it or not. In the scant year and a half since she was elected to the Skitinget in Molde in early summer 2022, Dyrhaug has not come close to working up a similar position internally. And it will now backfire on her. For the fires Dyrhaug believes she spends a disproportionate amount of time and effort putting out, derives much of her oxygen from what is perceived as her lack of leadership. And it is quite possible that she has come to the same conclusion when she speaks out as she does in the aforementioned interview. In that case, she gives her association time to find suitable candidates to succeed her until the Skitinget in Bodø in June 2024. The next one is perhaps the best Who can or will take over the firefighting, in the midst of a crisis economy, agreement rebels and a jump branch who don’t really want to join the union at all, is necessarily a completely open question. It is a form of ultra-combined that will never end up on the Olympic programme. The aforementioned Katharina Rise, who is now the assistant governor of Svalbard, was one of Dyrhaug’s opponents last time. In retrospect, it is easy to think that the legal expertise would have been useful for a ski president in the last 18 months. OPPOSING CANDIDATE: Katharina Rise, in her time criticized Erik Røste for a lack of role understanding. She herself ran as Dyrhaug’s opponent for the position of Ski President. Photo: NTB The other counter-candidate from 2022, Kristin Vestgren Sæterøy, also has experience and expertise which will at some point make her relevant again. But it is far from certain that they will go through the round again. Therefore, there will necessarily be speculation about other alternatives. An obvious example is the cross-country legend Vegard Ulvang, who also has many years of experience as head of the cross-country committee in FIS. Whether he wants to return to sports politics is a completely open question. But one name that should definitely be on the eventual candidate list is another of our greatest athletes of all time. SHOULD BE QUIET: Can Kjetil André Aamodt unite steep fronts in the Ski Association? Photo: NTB Kjetil André Aamodt has built a great deal of trust through his expertise and communication skills after he quit in 2007. He also has an involvement in the development of skiing which he has not exposed publicly to a very large extent yet. And perhaps there would be a balancing element with a former alpine skier as Ski Norway’s top leader. Maybe. So far, Tove Moe Dyrhaugs is also the next move here. The signals she sends will be completely decisive as to whether it will even be relevant to look for other alternatives already now. As of today, Bjørnis the fire teddy bear is obviously the closest candidate to create calm in an increasingly chaotic Ski-Norway. TO THE RESCUE: Bjørnis the fire teddy bear is known for creating a good atmosphere and extinguishing fires.
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