Comment: The Tour’s new winner is a prime example of the lack of success in Norwegian skiing | Sport

Harald Östberg Amundsen, who dominated the Tour de Ski throughout the event, admires Martin Johnsrud Sundby more than anything and receives spiritual coaching from the former officer of the Norwegian special forces, writes Pekka Holopainen.

If in Finland, under the approaching Sports Gala, there has been a discussion in the spirit of the 20th century about whether a basketball coach can by Gordon Herbert to nominate for coach of the year, Norway is guaranteed not to think about whether the winner of the Tour de Ski on Sunday would qualify Harald Östberg Amundsen athlete of the year. He is Norwegian to the power of ten in name.

The first name is the same as the king of the country With Harald V, an Olympic athlete and a big skiing lover. Surname most honorable representative has been a world-famous polar explorer Roald Amundsendiscoverer of the Northwest Passage and conqueror of the South Pole.

The ski brand is also Norway’s own Madshus, which has become rare in today’s elite skiing. The first surname, a typical middle name in Norway, is the same as the skier who won the Tour once before.

Aided by the absence of a few star skiers, Amundsen became Norway’s eighth overall winner at the Tour, and certainly the most unknown to date.

23 different Norwegian winners

In fact, Harald Östberg Amundsen qualifies in many ways as a parade example of the lack of abundance of success in Norwegian skiing. If we start more than 10 years ago, i.e. from the World Cup season 2013-2014, no less than 23 different Norwegian men have achieved at least one competition victory, 25-year-old Amundsen at least two.

If the Finnish skier had achieved 15 km (year) World Championship silver at the World Championships in Planica last winter, he would have been at the very top of the Athlete of the Year list on Thursday. Amundsen doesn’t fit at all according to when Norway’s largest magazine VG compiled its prestigious 100 best ranking for the past year.

Not even close to the post office

Of course, he didn’t even fit into the Norwegian 4×10 kilometer relay team in Planica, when the free leg was extended Simen for Hegstad Krüger and Johannes Hösflot for Kläbo. Of these Planica three-time world champions, VG ranked Krüger 21st in its list, Kläbo 9th. In the Finnish Sports Gala, the rankings would probably be a little different.

Amundsen has finished his career a few years ago Martin Johnsrud Sundbyn, a big admirer of the Tour’s doping cart without the three-time overall winner. He receives spiritual coaching from a praised and controversial figure, a former special forces officer who got rich with his self-help books From Erik Bertrand Larssen. This was also the mental backbone of Sundby and Petter Northug himself.

Twin sister of Amundsen, who has already won the Junior World Championships Hedda Östberg Amundsen he too has had an international skiing career, but not at the level of his brother. The skier representing his hometown’s general club Asker SK still lacks a prestigious competition victory, like his teammate, a biathlon skier who excelled at the Olympic and World Cup level Halvard Hanevold took eight pieces.