Various demonstrations are already commonplace in international sports. They have stayed away from the ski slopes, until in the middle of the Lillehammer World Cup men’s 20 km race, a protest group opposing Norway’s oil policy was seen on the route.
Perttu Hyvärinen saw a demonstration in front of him and reacted to it quickly. In the first round of the joint start race, the space on the track was already low, and the protesters who took over the track with a long sheet blocked it almost completely.
– I saw that the pelican was in the turbine with the demonstrators as well. I think I skied a little too much when they took over the entire track. There wasn’t like a lane of about half a meter where you could pass the protest group, Hyvärinen said.
Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation According to NRK (you switch to another service) the organizers had to wait for the police to come to get the situation under control. Some of the protesters were lying on the road, so the organizers had to use force to get the protesters moved to the side, says NRK.
No protesters were seen in the following rounds. According to NRK, the police arrested five protesters and are currently investigating what happened.
In Hyvärinen’s opinion, the seizure seemed well planned, even though he didn’t have time to notice what the protesters were taking a stand on. The experienced Finn is not surprised by the demonstration, as similar feats have been seen in sports a lot.
– In principle, I’ve even been waiting for them to come here for the racetracks. This is the first time we’ve seen one like this.
Ranked 15th as the best Finn Remi Lindholm was still on the first run at the end of the long hose
– Some were swinging with sheets and they were twisted from the sides. At that point, the group even broke up a bit, when we went around them a bit where it hurts, Lindholm said.
Lindholm said that he didn’t have time to pay attention to what the protestors said, but he heard in an interview with that the protestors were opponents of Norway’s oil policy.
– Maybe it was a little disturbing when they were in front. But, if they are on an important matter now, then I guess they can be there, yes I can get around, LIndholm piped up.
A demonstration in the downhill would have been really dangerous
Immediately after the incident, the World Cup coordinator of the International Ski Federation (FIS). Doris Kallen told Urheilu that it seems that the protesters did not succeed in preventing the skiers from advancing, so the competition was allowed to continue as normal.
Demonstrators poured an unknown liquid on the ground and emitted yellow smoke. According to NRK, oil was poured onto the track.
– We make sure that the liquid is not something that could injure someone or damage materials, Kallen commented and stated that he has never seen a similar situation in cross-country skiing before.
Nobody hurt themselves in the situation, but the situation that happened in the middle of a fast-paced race could have ended a long time ago.
– There was no more dangerous situation, but of course one can happen if the course is cut across in a race like this, Hyvärinen said.
The day’s competition ended with a quadruple victory for the Norwegian men. The fact that no less than 30 men crossed the finish line within 10 seconds shows the evenness of the competition.
Winner Paul Golberg said that he too had to go around the protesters from the side of the track.
– Fortunately, the demonstration took place uphill and not downhill. In that case, the result would have been ugly: there would have been a lot of crashes and the competition would probably have been stopped. It can be dangerous and scary, Golberg told NRK.
Golberg and the sixth place finisher by Emil Iversen think the protesters should find some other way to get their message across.
– That’s not nice. It is good to work for the climate, but I would do it in a different way than by destroying sports, Iversen said.