OSLO / STOCKHOLM (VG) Casper Ruud is in the final of the French Open. The winter sports nation Norway has been turned upside down in the last five years.
Less than 40 minutes ago
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We are now cheering for Norwegian tops in world sports such as athletics, golf, football and tennis. It hurts the Swedes …
– It is absolutely fantastic that we now have so many Norwegians who claim to be at the top of the world in big summer sports at the same time, says Warholm coach Leif Olav Alnes to VG.
In the last five years, after Karsten Warholm’s World Cup gold in 2017, five men have suddenly reached the highest level in summer world sports:
- Casper Ruud (23) plays Sunday finale i French Open. He has made insane jumps on the world rankings, which are so important in tennis. On Sunday, he will play for the first time finals in a Grand Slam tournament. He has never been further than the 4th round in these biggest tournaments before.
- Karsten Warholm (26) season debuts in Morocco on Sunday. He copied the World Cup gold in 2019. Then he became Olympic champion and set a seemingly inhuman world record in 2021 – so that he was named the best of the year in athletics, regardless of practice.
–- Jakob Ingebrigtsen (21) has already run fast in 2022. He took European Championship gold as a 17-year-old in 2018 and followed up in 2021 with Olympic gold in the king’s distance 1500 meters after beating Timothy Cheruiyot for the first time – 3.28.32. Has the world record of 1500 meters indoors.
- Erling Braut Haaland (21) plays Sunday against Sweden. He is one of the world’s most attractive football players and will from next season play for the English champions Manchester City. First teenager to score in five Champions League games in a row. Top scorer in the Champions League 2020/2021.
- Viktor Hovland (24) plays this weekend PGA Tournament He has six wins as a professional golfer. Has been number three in the world and in March was close to taking the step up as world number one. Currently 12th place (US Open 2019 and British Open 2021) as the best place in the so-called major tournaments (equivalent to the Grand Slam in tennis).
–A few years before that, it also paved the way for other prominent athletes in major “not winter” sports:
- Magnus Carlsen when he became world champion in chess in 2010 – and three years later world champion. He has defended that title four times.
- Alexander Dale Oen became world champion in the prestigious 100 meter breaststroke exercise in swimming in 2011. A little over a year later, he died during a training camp in the USA, only 26 years old.
- Ada Hegerberg won the Champions League for the first time with Lyon in 2016. She followed up by being named both Europe’s and eventually the world’s best female football player. Caroline Graham Hansen is also at the top level, however quite It is not new with Norwegian women who dominate world football: Hege Riise was named the championship’s best player when Norway won the World Cup in 1995.
Martin Ødegaard also paved the way, when he was brought in by Real Madrid as a 16-year-old and this spring he has been captain of Arsenal. On Saturday, he was asked about the Norwegian wave of new Norwegian aces – and with Casper Ruud in the final on the same day as Norway plays against Sweden in football:
– It is inspiring for us, a young Norwegian on such a big stage who does what he does.
– Very dedicated
When asked by VG about “what is it with you – the new generation” – Ødegaard answers:
– I do not know … especially when there are so many of the same age who stand out in different sports. I do not know what caused it, but I feel that many of those who come up now have something special about them. They are very professional and give much of their lives to the sport and are very dedicated. Then there is a greater chance of success. It has something to do with the mental and the attitude, the professionalism that many who come up have.
–National team manager Ståle Solbakken believes that they are part of the development of society.
– The individualized mindset, you have many more feedback. It’s not just the coach, but agents, other coaches, social media … It characterizes this generation differently than before. There is zero selfishness, everyone sacrifices for each other. Therein lies a basis for moving forward and approaching, for example, Sweden.
Salt in the wound
Kristoffer Bergström is Swedish, a commentator in Aftonbladet – and the man VG contacts to hear more about how it feels in a country that has had world stars in tennis, golf and other world sports:
– So you have to sprinkle salt in the wound now before the French Open final …
– Well …
– It hurts. I will not pretend to be anything else. And it’s not a small needle stab, but more like a chafing wound after 200 meters of the Tromsø marathon – it just hurts more all the time. Where the hell did he come from? Why can he not do combined skiing, so that we do not have to worry, says Bergström about Casper Ruud.
If you continue in the same way, you will within two years have started a furniture warehouse that is so cheap and elegant that it drives IKEA to bankruptcy.
– Think big!
Leif Olav Alnes is in place in Morocco, where Karsten Warholm will start the season on Sunday.
– I hope that it motivates children and young people to dream big and reflect on Henry Ford’s famous quote: “Whether you think you can, or think you can not – you’re right!”, Alnes reports to VG.
PS: Dennis Hauger is well on his way to becoming the next Norwegian on the list – as one of the best in Formula 2, rising before Formula 1. No Norwegian has ever ridden the World Cup in Formula 1.
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