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BETTING WITH TUFTE: Oscar Stabe Helvig talks to VG while Olaf Tufte and his wife Aina are the background television interview. Photo: Jostein Overvik
NYKIRKE (VG) Oscar Stabe Helvig’s Olympic engagement is carried out from hand to mouth. In the crisis of the crown, he moved to the farm with his partner Olaf Tufte (44). He has lost his job, sold his car, and is betting on Tokyo to save money.
– It’s very hard. Absolutely very tough, the 25-year-old tells VG.
The Oslo boy has long been considered the heir to Tufte (44) and world champion Kjetil Borch (30) in the individual scull. But for now, the boy from Oslo has no sponsors and has to pay 50,000 kroner a year to the Norwegian Rowing Association to participate in the national team.
– I am so lucky that my club, Norske Studenters Roklub, paid, says Helvig and thinks that he must have resorted to short-term debt if he had to pay the fee himself.
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The rowing association pays for the athletes’ travel and meetings, but otherwise does not contribute direct financial support. Helvig receives 70,000 crowns in scholarship B from Olympiatoppen. They agree to pay the rent. The situation is not that different for the last two in double four where Olaf Tufte is sitting like a “hit”.
– Yes, how do I manage financially ?, says Helvig and chews VG’s questions.
– It goes around somehow. But it is not comfortable. There are a few weeks a year in which one wonders if it will last another year, he answers.
This year has been special. Due to the pandemic, his job at a car company disappeared. Helvig’s own car was also sold after Tufte provided the team with a car that the youngest man on the ship has at his disposal. The income from the sale of cars helps a little.
– I also saved a little while working and the money I use now, says Oscar Stabe Helvig.
ON THE BACK: Oscar Stabe Helvig is second in double four, just behind Olaf Tufte. Martin Helseth and Erik Solbakken make up the rest of the team. The image is from last year’s WC. Photo: Bàlint Czucz / NTB
The older athletes on Team Roland have found their own way. Are Strandli (32) works as a financial journalist, while this fall’s European champion, Kristoffer Brun (32), combines his Olympic efforts with his work as a carpenter and his training as an architect.
The director of the national team, Johan Flodin, says:
– They are extremely skilled at handling the situation. But it is clear that this affects us sportingly. We must try to avoid periods that become too financially heavy.
The Swede describes it as “an unfavorable situation for living on the sidelines.” This year, Oscar Helvig & co. paddled a single international competition. The Norwegian Sports Confederation recently asked the state for NOK 37.5 million to cover the additional costs of postponing the Olympics. This includes “loss of income for athletes”.
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– We still hope that the Ministry of Culture will come in and give a little extra support, says Flodin. Beets are not alone. Among Olympiatoppen-awarded athletes in summer sports, 79 percent will earn less than NOK 400,000 per year.
On Wednesday, Olaf Tufte announced that he continues to focus on the games exhibited in Japan. In the background was a poster with 16 sponsors. Most of Tufts staff. When Norway closed in March, Helvig moved with Tufte to the farm near Horten.
– It was just exercising, eating and working on the farm. Got a big upgrade, says Oscar from West Uranienborg in central Oslo.
Tufte was clear that the European Championship was not a good idea for the team boat. Thus, NM became the only competition of the season for Oscar Stabe Helvig. He finished in silver a few seconds behind Kjetil Borch in individual sculls, while well ahead of Tufte.
– I got up and agreed with Borch, he says with a smile.
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Ambitions are through the roof. The nearly six-foot tall rower has a dream to follow Borch that Norway is investing in individual sculls. But first there are the Olympics in double four and probably a few years in double scull, where in 2015 he took World Cup silver in the U23 class together with Martin Helseth.
Helvig’s plans extend to both the Paris Olympics (2024) and the Los Angeles Olympics (2028).
– Then I’ll be my golden age as a rower.
He is now taking some subjects in BI along with his Olympic endeavors. From a purely financial point of view, you are not sure how prudent it will be to invest in rowing for years to come.
– Maybe you shouldn’t think long term. So this is not very motivating. But you’re chasing the next competition and to manage a little more, manage a little more. One more year, he describes and adds:
– I can be bitter and angry. You forget this when you get the experiences that rowing brings. I live well with them.
