Ski queen Therese Johaug (33) and “Masters of the Masters” winner Nils Jakob Hoff (37) tell how the courtship went on “Lindmo”.
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In 2014, it became known that ski star Johaug and rover world champion Hoff were lovers. Their first meeting was when both were traveling in connection with a gathering, it appears in Friday’s episode of “Lindmo” on NRK.
Olympic heroes Olaf Tufte and Marit Bjørgen stood and chatted, while Therese Johaug noticed the person behind Tufte. At first Johaug thought Hoff was a physiotherapist. She told her teammate Ingvild Flugstad Østberg that Hoff was “damn handsome”.
–On New Year’s Eve, they got engaged. The courtship took place at a Christmas celebration in Johaug’s training paradise, Italian Seiser Alm, about 1700 meters above sea level. Throughout the day, Johaug had wondered why Hoff was behaving strangely.
– He was so nice on the day. I thought “now we are in Seiser and will enjoy ourselves”. He was so quiet, I had to ask if I had done anything or said anything, says Johaug.
Hoff admits that he was nervous and had to sharpen up on the way out on the ski trip where he was going to be free. When she was about to take the skis out of a cupboard, he suddenly shook his hands.
But the duo got out and Hoff got peace. When Johaug, with his well-known Dalsbygd dialect, was to give his yes, something unusual happened.
– Then she started speaking Bergen, says Hoff from Bergen.
– I do not know what happened, says Johaug and laughs.
Johaug is now putting his skis on the shelf after 14 World Cup golds and four Olympic golds. This weekend she runs the last race in the World Cup in Falun, Sweden.
Hoff took World Cup gold and European Championship bronze in his career. Lately he has been in the spotlight with “Master of the Masters”, where he went to the top last weekend.
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