– You do not tolerate bad luck if you are outside the national team, says Helland Larsen to news. In recent days, the World Cup draw has once again caused a stir in the skiing community. “Disrespectful”, “too stupid” and “angry” have made athletes furious after various reprimands. This time it was Trønder Jan Thomas Jenssen (26) who had enough. – This is exactly what I don’t understand very much, Jenssen told news after the selection on Monday. Why does this happen again and again? – It doesn’t work to deliver 2nd place in the World Cup and then get sick. If you do not line up for the next race, you are out of the discussion. That is what is happening, says Helland Larsen. Thomas Helland Larsen (th) took the podium at Lillehammer behind Johannes Høsflot Klæbo last year. It didn’t work out later in the season. Photo: Fredrik Varfjell / Ali Zare The 24-year-old knows how merciless life is right on the outside of the national team. He himself placed on the podium in the World Cup sprint in Lillehammer a year ago. After that, the season was marked by a lot of illness. Later, when the city sprint in Drammen was organized in March, he was not even part of the extended national quota for that race. Then he was blown out against the management of the tenant. On Saturday, he will go again in the World Cup sprint at Lillehammer. But it is not enough just to strike there. – You are never safe, he says. 250 runners on a team Even national team runners are scrapped for the World Cup at the moment, due to internal competition. But the national team is only the tip of the iceberg in Norwegian cross-country skiing. news’s review of cross-country skiers in Norway shows that: Over 170 men and 80 women in Norway are on various cross-country teams. A third of these are athletes on teams under the Ski Association’s wings. More than 40 per cent invest in cross-country skiing, but several teams invest in traditional cross-country skiing. In addition, runners bet on their own or with club teams. Beitostølen shows the tight battle between the national team runners and those outside in Norwegian cross-country skiing. Even Northug (in front) is the only completely fresh national team runner this year. Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB – Top 20 distance runners at Beitostølen certainly have something to do in the World Cup. The top 30 in the sprint certainly has something to do with the World Cup. That says something about the potential, says Helland Larsen, who is himself part of the private team Team Norconsult in Asker. Cross-country team Teams in the Ski Association: National team: Men’s elite distance, men’s elite sprint, and women’s elite Recruit: Recruit national team for women and men Regional teams: Team Elon Midt-Norway, Team Elon Northern Norway, Team Elon Inlandet, Team Elon Oslofjord Para Elite cross-country: two women and three men Total: 49 men and 37 women Other teams: Norconsult, Team Mjøs Produkter, Team Vestmarka Fleischer Finans, Team GTL, Team Aker Dæhlie, Team Coop, Team Ragde Charge, XPND Fuel, Team Front Rustad IL Team NTNUI Sweco , Yr RøR Sjusjøen Ski Team, Team Synnfjell, Team Northug Crucible, Team Straye Flammekaster, Team Kaffebryggeriet, Team Norsk Gran, Team Næringsbanken, Team AF Handverk – Åsen, Fossum Elite, Team Romerike Ski, Swedish teams with Norwegian runners: Team Ramudden, Team Eksjøhus, Team Curira, Team Engcon, Lager 157 Ski Team Team Exsitec, Over 90 men’s cross-country skiers are on different teams and 80 men’s cross-country skiers are on different teams. For women, the corresponding figures are over 50 women on cross-country teams and 35 women on cross-country teams. In addition, there are runners such as Kristine Stavås Skistad and Ingvild Flugstad Østberg, who compete with club teams or on their own. – It is brutal, he adds about the level and the enormous competition between the runners. Often it is about decades already in the prologue. In addition, the problem is that Norway has a quota of six fixed places in the World Cup and the national team runners dominate internationally. At the same time, the fixed core is only getting older. It causes one of the older profiles to stumble. – Weird – It is very strange that there is no new one to beat us, says Hans Christer Holund. The 33-year-old, with two individual WC golds, is now in his seventh season on the national distance team. The development after the WC in Holmenkollen is clear: In the spring of 2011, no one over the age of 30 was selected for the national distance team. This year, five out of seven runners on that team are over 30. The average age has become four years older to 11 years. In the sprint team, the age trend is more even, but the average age has now become 28.7 years. 9 out of 13 runners on sprint and distance teams are older than 29 years. Hans Christer Holund, one of the oldest runners on the national team. Here from the world cup in Ruka last weekend. He was number seven and eight in Finland. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB Five of the runners on Holund’s team have six to twelve seasons on the national team. But Holund emphasizes that a national team is selected based on results. – That is why we are there, not because of age or anything else. But in the past, someone younger has come in and thanked those who had been around for 30 years. That has not been the case in recent years, says Holund. He hopes that more younger runners will break through soon, as a number of today’s national team runners did at the age of 23-25. But Harald Østberg Amundsen (24) is the only runner under the age of 25 on the men’s national team. He joined when the needle guild had become significantly stronger, because the team was cut with several athletes within a few years. See danger In a recent interview with Nettavisen, Vegard Ulvang pointed out that generational change is a recurring problem in Norwegian cross-country skiing. He believed that the Norwegian national team system has not been good enough to integrate the next generation of skiers with the elite. Cross-country veteran Anders Aukland (50) sees the same danger. – They have a little too many locked places, which means that good veterans get a little too many chances. Of course they are good. But there are also many good young people. And in order to transfer knowledge, I think it is very important to bring in young runners who can run World Cup races, says Aukland. Former national team runner and long-distance running veteran Anders Aukland. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB He himself fought a battle in his twenties to get into the national team. Later, he won several medals in the WC and Olympics. He believes that more and more runners in Norway, who are not allowed to run World Cup races, are actually capable of making it to the podium. That is why he thinks that national team runners have a bit too great an advantage in the battle against those outside. But the Ski Association makes it clear in its season information that they prioritize their national team skiers, especially before Christmas, in order to achieve the goal of being the best skiing nation in the world. The assessments create debate. Åtvarar Helland Larsen is completely clear that the result should be decisive for World Cup selection and the national team. But he believes withdrawals cannot be made based on what athletes have performed 1-2 years ago. Thomas Helland Larsen asks the national team management to select the best runners right now. Photo: Nils Christian Mangelrød He believes there will be consequences when talented runners don’t get the chance internationally, while the age of the national team only increases. – I think one now loses vintages. As for what the problem is, I should still be careful when speaking about it, says Helland Larsen Even though he has been part of a very strong cohort. But he believes that several cohorts may disappear, if the national team runners last for several more years and perform at the same level. – Then no more people will come in. Maybe there will be one runner or two, but not more, says Helland Larsen. He emphasizes that a generational change must not happen as long as athletes perform at the top, but that there should be replacements immediately if someone no longer performs at the highest level. Thomas Helland Larsen was number 17 in the sprint at Beitostølen. Last weekend he won the Norwegian Cup and is ready for the World Cup in Lillehammer. Photo: Nils Christian Mangelrød – I understand that I myself was not selected for the national team. But if I were the coach, I would have invested in young athletes who could develop in the national team, says Helland Larsen. He sees that several runners have already switched to long-distance running and says that several are considering it later in the season. Many people are not satisfied with going to the Norgescuprenn. – Difficult National team coach for the distance team, Eirik Myhr Nossum sees that times are tight and points to the fact that the Norwegian quotas have been reduced in recent years. – With a limited squad, we had to select world champions to put in U23 runners. It’s also rough, all the time you talk about top sport, says Nossum. He states that they are struggling to give young athletes the chance in the World Cup as the quotas are today. He says that he wishes the situation were different, but he thinks it is worst if the best are not allowed to go. National team coach Eirik Myhr Nossum. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB – It is more difficult now than before. Look at Sjur Røthe. He came to the WC in Oslo with a 20th place. Fair enough, he did well in that championship, but if you have a 20th place now, I’m pretty sure you won’t go to Planica. But he still got to try out weekend after weekend after weekend because the quotas were bigger, says Nossum.
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The match creates a ruckus in Ski-Norway – warns against a wave of seniors on the national team – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
