Petter Northug admits that the World Cup in Trondheim 2025 interests him very much. The legend also comments on Iivo Niskanen’s straight shot experiment and Antti Tuisku’s skiing project.
– I have nothing to prove to anyone, but I would be lying if I said that it is not nice to be involved in such speculations, said the skiing legend, 15-time world champion Petter Northug38, to Urheilu on Monday.
They are not related to Northug, who ended his national team career in 2018 no more and no less than for a possible investment in next year’s World Cup, which will be held at Northug’s home stadium in Trondheim’s Granåsen. Behind them is a great skiing and a second place in the 20 km (p) distance of the Norwegian Cup at the weekend.
Norwegian men’s national team coach Eirik Myhr Nossum glimpsed the possibility that Northug would ski the 50 km final distance at the World Championships with free skiing technique. Therese Johaug, who had a child last year and ended her career in the Beijing Olympic spring, has also been rumored to be on the same trip.
Northug currently works as a skiing expert for the Norwegian commercial TV2. An influential journalist who worked with him for a long time Ernst Lersveen suggested on Monday In Nettavisen, that Northug would get a free ticket for the royal trip from the Norwegian Ski Association. Norway has five representatives within 50 kilometers of Trondheim, because Paul Golberg is the reigning world champion.
Through screens
Northug tells Urheilu that he appreciates Lersveen’s gesture, but that he does not intend to accept the free ticket.
– I will not take a free ticket to the World Cup. If I want to participate, I go there through the qualification system by giving the coaching management the screens. In addition to Pål Golberg, extremely hard athletes like, for example, want to ski the trip Simen Hegstad Krüger, Harald Östberg Amundsen or Johannes Hösflot Kläbo. It’s unheard of to displace such an athlete on the old screens. It would be very unfair, says the kiritikki who started in the prestigious championships last time at the 2017 World Championships in Lahti.
– On the other hand, the Norwegian Skiing Federation excluded me from the Olympic team in 2006 very unfairly, for which maybe this would be compensation for that, Northug laughs at the injustice he experienced at the age of 20.
Not included in Oslo
Northug could get a place in the 50 km (p) of the World Cup in Oslo, which is already approaching, but he has been betting on the Vasaloppet throughout his training season. The 90-kilometer Ski Classics series competition is held on the same day as the qualifying competition for the 50-kilometer Holmenkollen.
– There are two reasons I don’t ski at Holmenkollen: Vasaloppet and the fact that I am committed to working on TV during the Oslo World Cup, says Northug, who is traveling to Nove Mesto, Czech Republic to work on the Biathlon World Cup.
He says that there is no rush to make decisions yet.
– When I was playing sports at the top, I had always finished the training season by May Day. That must happen now too. If the fire and motivation is then sufficient, I will get to work.
In recent seasons, Northug has primarily invested in straight push training under the terms of Ski Classics. However, he has won the 50 km World Championship gold twice in freestyle skiing (2009 and 2011).
– Skiing technique is not a problem. Straight push training serves ice skating very well. But the training is of course very different if the aim is the World Championships and not the Ski Classics.
Invites Niskanen to train
Northug listens amused as his much admired Iivo Niskanen The shot put experiment that went wrong at the weekend’s WC in Vantaa went well. The Olympic hero experienced a rare loss at home due to wrong equipment choices.
– Iivo can come to Norway to practice balance push with me and learn how to choose the right skis for competitions.
At the Granåsen stadium, Northug has not only been skiing.
– My hill jumping record of 78 meters was set there. Janne Ahonen however, you can breathe easy; I won’t try that sport for the World Championships.
In Finland, the news related to the pop star, skier Antti Tuisku spoke at the weekend. The man is training for the general series for the SC championships and founded his own club, where they recruit hard skiers.
– Sounds like a very interesting project. In Norway, various celebrities have participated in long-distance competitions for decades, but that is a completely different story, for example, in terms of requirements related to oxygen uptake, says Northug.