– The fatal thing happens – VG

Golberg was ready for his first World Cup relay with Norway. At 08 o’clock he sat at the breakfast table with the coach of the national team. At that moment it turned to snow.

– I thought it was good for me. I have had good experiences with rubber skis before and thought maybe it was against it. But when we tested the skis, there was really no question that the glue was the best, says Golberg.

He tested skis from 12 o’clock with his Espen Tøllefsen lubricator. At 1 pm the trails were closed. There were 15 minutes to go. Golberg had decided to glue skis.

– The rubber skis were clearly heavier and were on. I was completely wet on the track. Although it was snowing, there was no snow on the track. The attachment was the same on both sides, says Golberg.

But then came the doubt. At the end of the warm-up, it started to freeze a bit more in the glue, but match manager Roy Pedersen and lubrication manager Stein Olav Snesrud had the best skis in the glue.

Golberg talks about the first stage:

The lubrication manager Snesrud had woken up at 05. Then it was still raining. He slept a little longer. At 07:00 the lubricators were testing skis.

– I was hoping for the snow to come. We had a plan A: Rain. We had made a race to have ice on our stomachs and try as much as possible in the shortest time possible. It was not until 10 o’clock that they told us that they would not go up the tracks again and that they would not put salt on it. Then we gave him gasoline, says Snesrud.

They had skis with a suitable red glue alternative completely ready. And the skis were ready.

– Stick or rub?

Golberg took the skis with soft universal glue in his hands and went to the exit. And on the way to the stadium, the 30-year-old’s head gets drunk.

– The fatal thing happens when we start and I see that everyone else comes with rubber skis. I still have a chance to choose it, says Golberg.

Runners can choose skis right up to the moment the kickoff is fired. Golberg was with Nossum in the stadium. The seconds passed. It was right before they lined up. In a last desperate attempt to convince himself that he had chosen the right skis, he asks Nossum to radio the lubricators.

– I was standing there with Pål. He asks me about skiing. I know nothing. I have not worn ski boots once. I call the radio and say that Pål has a question. Pål asks: Paste or rub? They respond with glue, Nossum says.

It became sticky.

– It’s boiling inside all of us

After 40 seconds, lubrication manager Snesrud concludes. Went wrong. It also turns out that the conditions on the track and in the test area are not the same. And the temperature dropped half a degree in no time. That was all that was needed.

– It’s boiling inside all of us. There is frustration and some swearing. But we stay calm. He was just biting his teeth. We have the time we need for Emil to leave, says Snesrud.

They throw themselves on Emil’s skis. The rubber boots are ready. They test and make a few small adjustments. No hasty elections.

– It was an easy decision for Emil to choose the skis, says Snesrud dryly.

Return to the first stage. It soon became clear that the Russian had giant skis. Alexei Chervotkin disappeared.

Along the track, the women’s national team coach, Ole Morten Iversen, stood up and seconded him. He had a clear message. I wanted Golberg to be faster.

– Come in, Ole Morten yelled. It doesn’t work, I replied, says Golberg and laughs a bit about it an hour after the gold for Norway is secured.

– I could have been hard

After sending Iversen to the second stage as number ten, 56 seconds behind Russia, he stayed away from Hans Christer Holund and Johannes Høsflot Klæbo who were preparing their stages. He was sorry. He didn’t want them to see it.

Golberg was upset with himself for not daring to ignore the advice he received from lubricators on choosing sticky skis.

– I feel like I could have been tough and choose something different than what was recommended to me. He’s learning, it hurts. I may not have had the best rubber skis, but at least I hadn’t screwed up. That’s why I’m left with a bad feeling now, because I had every opportunity to choose something else, says Golberg.

On a cross-country ski, Emil Iversen thundered away. He caught everyone and sent Holund in the lead.

– Pål kept her composure. It limited the damage. Honestly, the same thing would have happened to me if the first stage had passed. An hour before the start I had planned to put glue. Now the relay became even more harrowing. We win and lose together, says Iversen, who was a wild stage:

Ankermann Klæbo was cheering on Golberg along the way.

– In the line that I was, it is demanding to choose skis. It will always be demanding. But now that Pål has learned, he won’t make that mistake again, Klæbo tells VG.

When Klæbo reached the finish line, he looked at Golberg with a big smile.

– Did you have good skis or? I ask. – Then he said it with a twinkle in his eye, says Golberg.

In 1930, the Norwegian relay masters received the gold medals around their necks.

Then Pål Golberg smiled.