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ZHANGJIAKOU. The gold press in the sprint relay is tough, but Jonna Sundling promises to celebrate even with silver or bronze.
She has a hard time understanding the Norwegian relay masters who did not.
– It’s a bit boring with that attitude, she says.
Jonna Sundling and Maja Dahlqvist have both won two medals in the Olympics.
Gold and silver in the sprint, bronze in the relay.
Now they are the big gold favorites in Wednesday’s sprint relay.
Maybe as big, if not bigger, than what the Norwegian men were before the relay.
Should the efforts not be enough all the way to gold but “only” to silver or bronze, Jonna Sundling promises celebration gestures anyway.
– Should it go well for me and Maja tomorrow, we will rejoice regardless of whether we are first, second or third. Medal is still a medal, Jonna promises.
Taken part of the debate
She has taken part in the debate about the Norwegian team and is critical of the riders’ actions.
– It’s boring. It’s an Olympic medal. There are few privileged and to take such a medal is great, states Jonna Sundling.
What happened was that the Norwegian riders manifested their disappointment while the French bronze winners celebrated big and the Russian gold team was warmly hugged.
But it is above all the pictures of the three teams after the men’s long relay that have been debated. In the pictures, the star Johannes Hösflot Kläbo was missing.
The images have been spread and aroused emotions.
The former Canadian world champion from 2011, Devon Kershaw, belongs to the crowd that reacted.
– I do not care what he says, there are no excuses. You have to show respect for the competitions you enter. That was completely unacceptable, Kershaw said in a podcast on fasterskier.com.
“We were not good enough”
At the press conference before Wednesday’s sprint relay, Kläbo had to respond to the criticism.
– I do not intend to sit here and defend myself, he points out before continuing:
– We were not good enough to fight for the gold. We congratulated those who won (ROC). I stood and waited for a while, but no one showed up so I chose to change. That was for what comes later in the Olympics. The picture was taken while I was changing, but it is obvious that you have to show up.
Coach Arild Monsen was hard pressed by the newspaper VG’s seconded reporter and stated:
– I hope it will not happen again. They were disappointed there and then and everyone reacts differently. It was a subdued mood. But we must be able to accept that we can be defeated, Monsen replied.
