A rare complete disaster for Norway! Wild parties started at the Tour de Ski: “Truly epic” | Sport

The Tour de Ski saw a rare moment when there was no Norwegian on the podium in the men’s opening race. The second surprise of the day was Switzerland, who also rocked Finland.

TOBLACH.

Wild, roaring and screaming. On the opening day of the Tour de Ski, there was quite a big bang when only one Norwegian got on the podium. He was Kristine Skistad Stavåswho was third in the women’s sprint.

Surprisingly, there were no Norwegians among the three men. French Lucas Chanavat and Jules Chappaz took the first two places. of the United States Ben Ogden was third.

When the award formalities were over, the Toblach stadium was showered with fizzy drink. Even so that those following the podium party had to avoid getting wet. The French were so scared of their own fizzy parties that they tried to get rid of all but one Lord.

The entire Toblach ski stadium seemed to light up from the surprise top three.

– This kind of thing happens when fewer people who have reached the podium get there. This doesn’t happen every day. You have to enjoy it, Ogden says.

In the World Cup of Skiing, podium celebrations without Norwegian men are very rare. The last time this happened was the Beitostölen sprint in December 2022 and the Falun and Drammen sprints in March 2022.

– Norwegians are always on the podium. It was really epic to have a Norwegian-free podium. I’m really proud that I was a part of it, Ogden expressed.

Ogden told Urheilu about the beginning of winter, how last season’s breakthrough near the top of the world was overshadowed by great sadness. John’s father got cancer. Ogden carried out his terminally ill father’s will and competed in the World Cup throughout the season despite internal struggles.

John Ogden passed away on midsummer.

Last summer was not easy for Ogden in terms of training either.

– It’s too easy to start doubting yourself, but I’m really proud of myself. I have believed in myself. It’s really unbelievable what happened here today, Ogden described his flashbacks.

The second surprise of the day was Switzerland. All in all, no fewer than seven athletes made it to the heats. For comparison, there were only three skiers in the top 30 from Finland.

In a body Valerio Grond posted a career best when he was fifth. Grond beat as many as four Norwegians in his semi-final and advanced directly to the final behind Chanavat.

– It was a really fun day. I’m really happy that I made it to the final and was able to fight for the podium places, Grond said with a smile.

In the final Erik Valnes got ahead, but Grond liked beating the Norwegians.

In women Nadine Fähndrich was fifth like Grond.

What then explained Switzerland’s wild team effort?

Apparently, at least a very good ski. Switzerland’s best of the day offered an almost identical explanation for the team effort.

– We are happy to be back in Central Europe. We’ll be closer to the top then. We also had good skis, Fähndrich described.

– We are back in Central Europe. This is our territory. We’re trying to get to the top, Grond described, still glowing his skis.

Urheilu follows the Tour de Ski in this article. The Tour continues on Sunday with 10 km (p) intermediate starts. The women’s race starts at 1:15 p.m. and the men’s race at 4 p.m.