– What is the worst? – I think the worst thing is standing in front of a lot of people. Or something like this here. Talk to the camera and everyone is looking at you. – Why? – Because then I get very nervous, and there is a kind of pressure that I have on myself and then I might do it more. So now I focus very much on not doing that. Oppegaard is much less nervous about running a relay in the EC in front of thousands of people than doing an interview with news. TWO WORLDS: Oppegaard has zero problem with jumping in front of a large audience, but speaking is different. Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB The 25-year-old has struggled with stuttering all her life, something she has not really wanted anyone but family and those closest to her to know. – I think it’s taboo. It’s no fun. It’s kind of like that… You feel a bit “stupid”, says Oppegaard. – I try to hide it all the time that I don’t do it. To all. “Oi, now you’re stupid” She tries to hide her stammering as best she can. She doesn’t really talk about it that much, and knows it can be difficult. And there is a reason why he usually tries to hide it. – I don’t want to get the idea that I get hung up on a word, or that people think I’m stupid. But I know myself that there is something I can’t do anything about. That it is innate. And then you just have to accept it. That’s how I am, she says. THOSE WHO KNOW: Oppegaard says that only those who know her well enough know when to jump in if she is struggling to get the words out. Here with Lakeri Ertzgaard. Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum / NTB – If people know, it’s easier to talk together. But if I meet completely new people my age, that’s the worst. I feel that as soon as I don’t say something completely clean, it becomes like “oh”. I think it’s something I have in my head, but I feel that “oh, now you’re stupid”. That’s what I tell myself. Although she says that perhaps it is she herself who cares the most, she has experienced unpleasant situations. Both with people who know her, and not. – If you get hung up on a word, they will imitate you or bully you a bit, then. I’ve been a lot of, call it, bullied for it throughout my life. So it’s no fun, says Oppegaard. Bullied by children, imitated by adults The worst was when she went to primary and secondary school. Although she was not kept out the whole time, there were weekly comments. But even now she experiences people imitating her, even though she tries to avoid it as best she can. – There are a lot of people who imitate. There are actually grown people who do it today too. It has happened many times, says Oppegaard. Photo: Javad Parsa / NTB – I get very angry and irritated and very sorry. Thinking about it a lot. I am trying to say that it is not right. But now I’m actually getting more irritated. I try to say that it’s not right, but before I couldn’t do it very well. This has meant that she has simply removed herself from situations that have been uncomfortable. – I wish I hadn’t struggled with it. I avoid things sometimes and because I don’t want to be seen as the focus. Like when you walk around and say “hi, my name is” and so on. That’s the worst thing I know. So it has happened that I have fled. That I run out, and then just… No, this won’t work. – Forgetting it completely Now it’s the athletics track that is a safe haven for Oppegaard to escape to. There she can let her legs do the talking. – It’s the best there is. Just run and don’t talk anything. It is very lovely. – Just run away from everything. No, she says and laughs. For the problem that arises when she has to talk in front of people, disappear when she runs. Whether it is alone or in front of hundreds or thousands of people. – Do you forget it then? – Yes, then you forget it completely. Don’t think about it. Because then you’re in your own zone, and you’re just going to run and that’s what you’re going to do, she says. IN HIS ESS: Oppegaard likes to talk best with his legs on the athletics track. Photo: Annika Byrde / NTB She has to live with the stammering, but she hopes that it can become even easier to handle. – One cannot completely get rid of it. But the hope is to be able to live with it without being overly embarrassed. Or think that now I was stupid. That is my hope. And that I can say to those who… If someone comes and imitates me, that I can say that “it wasn’t right” and then we move on, she says. – I think it is important to stand up and dare to talk a little about it. I don’t like people knowing that I struggle with it. But it’s good that people know that too. Linn Oppegaard is a reserve on the relay team that will run 4×400 meters in the EC in Rome. They will be in action on Tuesday 11 June at 11.15. See the entire program for the championship here. Mass fall right in front of Ingebrigtsen 01:16 – It just happened 00:32 Traveling to the EC with eleven parcels (!) 01:02 Explaining the gesture: – Luckily didn’t say “fuck you” 00:31 Show more Published 11.06.2024, at 06.34
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