The size of the Norwegian cross country team was reduced due to the financial situation of the federation. Johannes Hösflot Kläbo said that he was left out of the national team because of this as well.
Norway’s biggest skiing star Johannes Hösflot Kläbo said on Sunday that he will leave the national team in the coming season. He had thought that he would stay in the national team until 2025, when the World Championships will be held in Trondheim, but now he changed his plans.
One of the reasons, Kläbo said, was the poor financial situation of the Norwegian Skiing Association and the fact that now the association would have more money for other athletes.
However, Norwegian skiing experts were not enthusiastic about Kläbo’s announcement.
– This is dramatic for the national team model, NRK’s expert Torgeir Björn said (you switch to another service).
by Fredrik Aukland thinks that Kläbo is now putting the union under a lot of pressure. He believes there are consequences for being absent.
– This can affect how the sponsor market works in skiing. This could open the door to sponsorship focusing more and more on individual athletes, Aukland estimates.
Therese Johaug was not surprised by Kläbo’s absence, as it had been rumored for a long time. He reminded that also Petter Northug made the same choice back in the day.
– It is a great shame that he will be left out. However, the boys of the national team have shown that they can do just as well, if not better. The national team is strong despite everything, Johaug said.
Cross-country team leader Espen Bjervig stressed that the association wanted Kläbo to continue in the national team, but respects the star skier’s decision. Currently, a Norwegian skier cannot participate in the World Cup competition if he is not part of the national team.
Johaug doesn’t think Kläbo will turn down the national team if it means he won’t make it to the World Cup.
Norwegian newspaper According to VG (you switch to another service) the national team held a crisis meeting on Wednesday, because due to the bad financial situation, the size of the team had to be reduced from 24 athletes to 20. In the season that ended, the national team included 13 men and 11 women, now there are both women and men in 10 teams.
Among other things, a four-time world champion qualified from the team Emil Iversen. According to Norwegian media (you will switch to another service) also Didrik Tönseth would have been excluded from the national team, but Kläbo’s absence and By Hans Christer Holund with the termination decision, a place opened up for him.
On the women’s side Kristine Stavås Skistad and Astrid Öyre Slind have trained outside the national team before and plan to continue on this path. Instead Ingvild Flugstad Östberg got back into the national team (you move to another service).
Source: NRK, VG and TV2