The top of the results list in the men’s 10 kilometers was, apart from Briton Andrew Musgrave, only one big Norwegian flag.
Nine of the top ten on the Lillehammer course were Norwegians. Not good news, say cross-country elite.
– It’s not good, it’s not. In Norway we are happy, but in the rest of the world…
Embarrassing
This is what Emil Iversen says. With his 12th place, he ensured that there were a total of ten Norwegians in the top twelve.
National coach Eirik Myhr Nossum does not recall seeing a similar result list to the one seen on Friday.
Here, Iver (22) realizes he has won
– When you are detached, you get a lot of congratulations. But it’s a bit embarrassing, Nossum admits.
– What do people say?
– People are impressed, but they say it’s good for me and not for the sport.
The description repeated by foreign riders in Lillehammer is “boring”.
– It’s not good for sports, of course. There will be a Norwegian league again and it’s boring, Swede Calle Halfvarsson tells TV 2.
He receives support from teammate William Poromaa.
William Poromaa and the other Swedish long-distance runners had a tough time in the men’s 10 kilometres. Photo: Marius Simensen / BILDBYRÅN
– People probably think it’s very boring when there is such a domain. But you just have to do what you can and jump when you get the chance.
– We have a job to do
In the crowd of Norwegian athletes, there was another flag to be seen in the top ten, that of Great Britain. But Andrew Musgrave, who also finished fourth in Friday’s 10km, also lives and trains in Norway and is considered by many to be Norwegian-British.
– I don’t think there were that many people who realized there was NM skiing in Lillehammer today, no, says Musgrave of the attention the sport is receiving from overseas.
– It is clear that it would have been better if there were more nations in there. The rest of us have work to do. We just need to get up and do something about it, continues the British cross-country profile.
Myhr Nossum is happy that there was at least one other country in the top ten.
Andrew Musgrave is considered by many to be Norwegian-British. Photo: Johanna Wallen / BILDBYRÅN
– The goal is always to dominate. It’s my job, and that of others in Norwegian cross-country skiing, that we should do well. But we wish we had more up there. I’m very happy that Musgrave is there too, says the Norwegian national coach.
Iversen emphasizes that the absence of Russian athletes is of great importance.
– Winter is long and we know that there are more people in the league who can get up. But with Russia out, we are somewhat prepared that there will be a lot of Norwegians, Iversen says and adds:
Surprised shock winner: – I have not had time to dream about it even once
– I fail to understand that so many other countries think it is great fun to watch cross-country skiing.
– Would you have bothered to see it on TV if you were, say, Swiss or Italian?
– No I do not think so. It’s probably the most fun thing for Norwegians to watch this race anyway.
TV 2’s cross-country expert Petter Northug is hoping for sport’s side that more nations will establish themselves at the top in the future.
– Obviously not good as a television product in Europe with such Norwegian dominance, which we have probably never seen before. Fortunately, foreign women are fine. We hope they inspire their male colleagues, Northug says.
Musgrave describes the situation as if other nations are just too bad.
– It’s a bit boring, and one can argue whether it would have been better to have private teams like they have in cycling, because then the best Norwegians would be in different teams. But we in other nations simply have to do a better job, because it’s not the Norwegians’ fault that they are good, the Briton points out.
