– It cannot be the case that just because it is more obvious, it must be punished more severely. Then it starts to become more difficult to judge, emphasizes Pål Golberg to news. He himself has been involved in a similar incident to the one between Ilar and Dahlqvist. During the Ski Tour 2020, national team colleague Erik Valnes chose to slow down when he was close to beating Golberg in the battle for the final place in the sprint. Golberg thus secured valuable seconds in the summary, and in a duel with Aleksandr Bolsjunov, the Norwegian finally went all the way to the top after a big Russian smear at the final chase start. – It has happened before that someone has been released to take bonus points and final positions. We see that the judging is a little too inconsistent, so a clarification would have been quite good, says Golberg. Watch the dramatic rush from the sprint semi-final during the Ski Tour 2020, when Bolsjunov first fell, before Erik Valnes let Pål Golberg pass and secure a direct final place. – Need for clearer regulations Moa Ilar’s maneuver in Lahti meant that teammate Maja Dahlqvist took the necessary points to win the sprint cup overall, at the expense of Swiss Nadine Fähndrich. – They are a team. They work for each other and not against each other. It’s her choice, I don’t know how I want to do it, Fähndrich told news after the overall sprint cup failed. Ilar himself was clear that everything was about making the best possible arrangements for his national team friend. – Right then and there it felt like the right decision. One could argue that I ran out. No one knows, the Swede told news. See the situation Ilar was disqualified for in the video window below: Ingvild Flugstad Østberg believes the episode between Ilar and Dahlqvist is one of several examples that underline the need for clearer guidelines. – After all, there are episodes that make clearer regulations necessary. How are you going to be able to judge whether someone is giving it their all or not? It will be a bit word for word, says Østberg. – It (in Lahti) was very clear, but again there may be some less clear episodes, she adds. Ingvild Flugstad Østberg believes that a clearer set of rules is required for what constitutes team tactics and what constitutes unsporting behaviour. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB – FIS must decide In 2016, FIS adopted a new set of regulations which, among other things, stated that “any manipulation of a sporting result is not permitted because it can undermine trust in the sport and the result that would have been natural”. Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, who himself went through an emotional rollercoaster when he was dished out at the WC five-mile in 2021, demands that the FIS come to the field with a clarification of what is team tactics and what is unsportsmanlike conduct. – They absolutely must. There are always two sides to an issue, but for Maja (Dahlqvist) it was decisive. It was perhaps a bit obvious there (in Lahti). – Should we be allowed to work as a team? – At least that is what the FIS has to decide on. Cross-country manager in the Norwegian Ski Association and the national team’s representative on the FIS’ cross-country committee, Espen Bjervig, was tight-lipped about his thoughts on the subject when news contacted us on Friday. – This is a topic that will be taken up at the spring meetings in Dubrovnik, where people with expertise can discuss whether the rules should be sharpened. Beyond that, I have no comment, said Bjervig. National team manager Espen Bjervig did not want to share his thoughts on the confusion surrounding FIS’ regulations. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB – The decision is made by each individual jury Race Director of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS), Michal Lamplot, does not want to comment on what distinguishes Ilar’s maneuver from the situations with Østberg and Golberg. However, he believes that the circumstances surrounding the race in Lahti played a decisive role in Ilar being disqualified. – The situation was special because it was the last sprint in the World Cup season, which was also decisive for the overall outcome of the Sprint Cup, he writes to news. – Seen from your point of view; Where is the line between team tactics and unsportsmanlike conduct? – Unsportsmanlike conduct is not defined by International Competition Rules (ICR). It is up to each individual jury to judge whether something is unsportsmanlike conduct or not. The jury in Lahti judged it as unsportsmanlike conduct because it was considered an action that had a direct impact on other runners, says Lamplot. Ilar’s maneuver in Falun was important for Maja Dahlqvist, who could finally celebrate overall victory in the Sprint World Cup. Photo: Heikki Saukkomaa / AP Welcomes more team tactics During the Tour de Ski in 2013, Flugstad Østberg herself ended up at the center of events when she deliberately let Kristin Størmer Steira pass her in the sprint semi-final in Val Müstair. Steira ended up on the podium overall. In contrast to Ilar, who was disqualified because the jury thought “the behavior was unsporting”, Østberg’s choice had no consequences. – I remember that situation very well. In a way, I had no doubt that it was what I was supposed to do when I got there, but at the same time it hurt a lot personally. I had a good day and was able to go for my very first podium in a World Cup race, says Østberg. Three-time world champion, twice in the relay and once in the sprint relay, Finn Hågen Krogh, wants such episodes to happen more often. – It is perhaps time that we introduce some tactics into cross-country skiing. It is an individual sport, but it only gets tighter and tighter at the top, so in the end a bit of team play is needed to decide things, he says to news. – What do you think about the jury disciplining her for unsportsmanlike conduct? – Then there are many who should have been dished out in a number of tours. It’s part of the sport, and I myself got help from Holund once. If it is not legal, then there is no point in having a team called the national team, Krogh asserts. Finn-Hågen Krogh has had some difficult years in terms of results on the ski track in recent years, but has three WC gold medals on his CV. Photo: Terje Bendiksby / NTB
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Where is the line between tactics and unsportsmanlike conduct? – Ski stars require clarification – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
