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Reactions were not long in coming after Therese Johaug was awarded the Egeberg Honorary Award on Friday.
Robin Mackenzie-Robinson is one of Norway’s leading experts in sports law and believes it is problematic for a previously convicted doping athlete to win the award.
Background: Therese Johaug received the Egeberg Honorary Award
– A doping conviction should not be compatible with an honorary award when more than sporting criteria are emphasized, he tells ABC News.
– The jury writes in the justification that Johaug is qualified for the award as she did not try to deceive herself for better performance. Do you agree with that?
Attorney Robin Mackenzie-Robinson criticizes Therese Johaug receiving the award. Photo: NTB
– It is clear that the case could have been worse. It could have been deliberate doping, but that was not the case here. Still, we are talking about a practitioner who did not bother to familiarize himself with the important regulations and conducted a completely elementary investigation on his own. So one must bear the consequences of one’s actions, and in this case one of the consequences should have been that one did not receive the Egeberg Honorary Award, Mackenzie-Robinson believes.
NRK sportscaster Jan Petter Saltvedt thinks it was wrong to give Johaug the award.
– I think they should save themselves. Not least on Johaug’s part. I think it means more to a jury than it does to Johaug. No matter how happy Johaug was when he received this, the argument will break out again. Johaug becomes an innocent object of criticism here, Saltvedt adds. VG.
Johaug responds to criticism
Johaug receives the award for his achievements at the highest international level in cross-country skiing and at the highest national level in athletics. In addition to this, a candidate must also meet the requirement of being a good role model for the sport.
It is at this point that it has been discussed whether Johaug deserves the award, as she had previously been suspended for violating international doping regulations.
Therese Johaug was awarded the Egeberg Honorary Award on Friday. The award was presented by Børre Rognlien during the Norwegian Cup races in Sjusjøen. Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB
– Those who think I don’t deserve it may think I do. I have done my best and it is not me who has considered it, it is the committee that has decided it. I really appreciate this award, Johaug tells NRK.
The committee notes in the justification that Johaug has not been convicted of attempting to cheat.
Johaug has not been charged or convicted of attempted deception, she has been charged and convicted of violating the diligence requirements of the practitioner of doping regulations. However, the committee believes that negligence alone cannot disqualify Johaug as a good role model, the justification states.
Dagbladet commentator Esten O. Sæther thinks it was deserved that Johaug won the award.
“Stupid mistakes and carelessness, on the other hand, are a part of everyday life, and no sports hero loses his credit because he forgets to check the writing on a lip balm packet. This also applies to Therese Johaug, who is more than sports-qualified for this award. And now Norwegian sports officially forgive her. It should just be missing, “writes Sæther.
– Do not believe that the last word is said
Jann Post, who comments on cross-country skiing and athletics for NRK, thinks the award will spark a debate.
– I don’t think the last word was said. What she has done on the track field, in addition to being the best cross-country skier in the world, is impressive. But there are still reasons to ask some questions, says Post, according to Dagbladet.
Egebergs Ærespris is one of the most important awards in Norwegian sport, and the regulations state, among other things, that the candidate must be a good role model for the fundamental values of the sport.
Anders Aukland, Ole Einar Bjørndalen, Lars Berger, Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset, Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen and Birgit Skarstein are among some of the athletes who have won the generous award in recent times.
