Petter Northug was supposed to compete on Friday in the high-level Artillery Games in Olos. However, Northug suffers a minor injury.
A Norwegian skiing icon by Petter Northug was supposed to compete today in the Olos Artillery Games in the sprint, but he did not start the race.
Norwegian newspaper VG tellsthat the reason for the absence is an injury.
– Small injury after a hard week of training. He doesn’t take any risks. He plans to be ready for the Ski Classics series, from the Northug team Pål Trøan’s Grace stated.
Northug plans to compete this season on long distances in his own Team Janteloppet. According to VG, Northug plans to stay in Finland despite the injury.
– We are here to train and prepare for the season anyway, Trøan Aune said.
Northug, 37, is a 13-time world champion and two-time Olympic champion. He is considered one of the toughest male skiers of all.
Northug announced his retirement in December 2018. However, he returned to the long-distance Ski Classics series for last season.
There is a lot of coverage at the Olos Artillery Championships this weekend. In addition to Friday’s sprints, there will be 10-kilometer time-trials with traditional skiing on Saturday and 10-kilometer time-trials with free skiing on Sunday.
There are, among other things, the stars of the Norwegian men’s national team and the Italian sprint cannon Federico Pellegrino. Finland’s top names will be seen at the starting line this weekend, among other things Ivo and Kerttu Niskanen, Krista Pärmäkoski, Perttu Hyvärinen, Niko Anttola and Cross mat Hakola. Finland’s top names, the Niskasets, compete in Olos on Saturday and Sunday’s intermediate starts. Pärmäkoski and Hyvärinen have only registered for Sunday’s free race.