In ten days, the Paralympics will start. There, cross-country skier Trygve Toskedal Larsen and Magnus Valø Balchen thought they would participate for Norway. Then came the counter message.
–
– I received a phone call from Cato (Zahl Pedersen) on Friday that a solid miss was made, and that the place was empty. It was simply a little shock, says Trygve Toskedal Larsen to VG.
The 49-year-old noted, among other things, a fourth place in the last World Cup race before the Paralympics, and had an ambition to fight for medals in the Paralympics, but that did not happen.
An error in the quota registration means that he is not given the opportunity to participate in the Paralympics.
– At the last allocation round, it turns out that we have calculated one athlete too much on the cross-country quota. It is my responsibility that this was not revealed earlier, and I apologize for the consequences this has for the athlete, says Cato Zahl Pedersen, Chief of Mission for the Norwegian squad in a press release.
16 athletes were originally supposed to have participated for Norway in the Paralympics, but it has now been cut down to 14.
–In a conversation with VG, Toskedal Larsen is clearly disappointed with the situation.
– It’s not going to happen. We operate and work with this for a four-year period and put everything into achieving our goals. That there should then be a mistake inside the OLT who are so skilled, it should not occur. They must do something about the routines, so that this can not happen again, he believes.
In addition to Toskedal Larsen not being allowed to participate, the alpinist Magnus Valø Balchen has also been removed from the Norwegian squad due to the fact that he did not have an international license last season, Olympiatoppen states in the press release.
– It’s a pretty stupid rule. In my situation, I had no opportunity to have an international license last season, because I started with it here in April, says Valø Balchen to VG.
06.30 on Thursday, there is a meeting at Gardermoen before leaving for China, and thus time begins to run out for the alpinist.
– It’s a pretty tough situation, but of course I’m waiting for the last answer. I have very little hope of continuing to participate, but I have been informed that it looks difficult. It looks heavy. It’s boring, he says.
–– This is a rule reference we do not accept, and the case has been appealed to the IPC. We await a final clarification. It can not be right that athletes who are good enough this season are not allowed to participate in the Paralympics because they did not compete last year. We do what we can to get Magnus to start, says Zahl Pedersen in the press release.
Trygve Toskedal Larsen claims that Olympiatoppen has previously received “hints” from the ski association that Norway did not have as many quota places as Olympiatoppen had recommended for cross-country skiers, but that Olympiatoppen confirmed that the quota was correct.
– The coach then sends in the registration, and then they get in return from the IPC (International Paralympic Committee) that they do not have as many places. Then some lights started to go up here and there, he says.
–Toskedal Larsen says that Zahl Pedersen was “really sorry” when he came with the message that Toskedal Larsen was not allowed to go to China.
– He did not try to cover anything, and was very sorry, says Toskedal Larsen.
Although he would very much rather have participated in the Paralympics himself, he says that he will probably attend the exercises.
– It is not what tempts the most, but my whole team is down there and will compete. I want to follow how they do it, even though I would rather be there myself. It will have a slight aftertaste, he says.
Zahl Pedersen and top sports manager Tore Øvrebø did not respond to VG’s inquiries on Tuesday.
–
