Petter Northug realized after 500 meters that he is no longer in top condition.
A surprise was seen at the Norwegian Ski Cup on Saturday, when the 38-year-old Petter Northug participated in a 10 km race. The two-time Olympic champion and 13-time world champion, who skied his first official normal distance race since 2018, finished 35th in the race. He lost to the winner of the race Iver Tildheim for Andersen one minute and 14.2 seconds.
– After 500 meters, I realized that I lacked speed. I can’t ski a hard ten kilometers with this training. After the first 500m it was a battle. I came here to get a good, painful workout, Northug stated According to NRK.
After the race, Northug received the Tour de Ski winning pole from 2015. Northug received the pole because the race was originally won by Norway Martin Johnsrud Sundby was punished for a doping violation and Northug became the winner of the race. Pysti had been in the possession of the Norwegian Ski Association since 2017.
The first place in the 2015 Tour was the only one of the Norwegian’s career, so he was very excited to get the post.
– I’m going to sleep with this trophy next night. I’ll put this under my pillow and remember 2015. This is a great day.