Extreme weather in Frankfurt meant that the runners’ flight on Wednesday afternoon was cancelled. Then there was also snow chaos and closed airspace over Norway’s main airport at Gardermoen.
NTB is informed by the head of cross-country skiing in the Norwegian Ski Association, Per Elias Kalfoss, that Stavås Skistad and the rest of the sprint squad had to be accommodated in a hotel in Gardermoen while waiting for a new flight.
It is now planned that the runners and the support apparatus will get to Frankfurt on an early morning flight on Thursday morning. The trip then continues to the World Cup organizer Oberhof.
Still uncertainty
The announcement about the canceled flight came already on Tuesday. It then emerged from reports from Germany that the international airport in Frankfurt would be affected by extreme weather in the area.
When asked by NTB if he is confident that the Norwegian World Cup squad will make it to Germany on Thursday morning, subject manager Kalfoss laughs.
– We are not at all. We are just like everyone else and wonder a little about what the weather will be like, he smiles.
Alongside the sprint, there will be a 20 kilometer joint start in Oberhof next weekend. The runners selected for that distance are scheduled to fly to Germany on a flight at 1.15pm on Thursday.
– For the time being, there are no changes regarding this, says Kalfoss.
Lose official training
The postponed journey creates some challenges for Stavås Skistad and the colleagues in the sprint squad. The sprint already runs on Friday.
– We get some deviation from what we usually do. Among other things, we don’t make it down to the official training on the slopes in Oberhof. We have communicated this to FIS. Fortunately, I am not alone in arriving a little late this time, says Kalfoss.
– We are told that we can go on the slopes a little longer than planned. In addition, the runners get access to the trails before the prologue. Still, we have a little uncertain idea of how the day will turn out, he adds.
According to the reports, the much criticized conditions in Oberhof are good. There must have been fresh snow recently.
When the biathletes competed there some time ago, the Norwegian runners were very frustrated with the surface.
(©NTB)
2024-01-17 13:22:23
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