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According to a press release from Team Telemark, Gunnulfsen was unlucky in training at Lillehammer on Saturday.
At high speed, he collided with another runner. The result was a broken leg.
– I understood immediately that this was serious. The leg hung in a completely unnatural position, Gunnulfsen says in the press release.
Haunted by accident
– Accidents haunt Mikael Gunnufsen. He had to take an early break during the National Championship in Konnerud last winter. Then he has shown great form at the start of this season, and for me he was an obvious candidate to go five miles in the WC in Oberstdorf, and we were hoping to see Mikael in the classic 30km joint start at the Norwegian Cup on 10 January, says NRK cross-country ski expert Torgeir Bjørn.
– Did you see him as a candidate for a medal in the classic five-mile race of the World Cup?
– Yes, with the victory he had in the opening race in Beitostølen, with all of the Norwegian elite in place, there is no doubt that he is someone who for a time could have won a medal in a five-mile race in the toilet. He’s very good at classical in general, and in that sense this was very unfortunate, says Torgeir Bjørn.
In the NM race that Bjørn is targeting, Gunnulfsen was one of the favorites, but his shoulder came off. It happened on February 1 of last year.
– Very low
This season he started strong and won the 15km classic at the national season opener in Beitostølen. But bad luck came immediately. On the way to the opening of the World Cup in Ruka, Gunnulfsen had to turn around and drive home because he was not feeling one hundred percent.
With a solid three-mile position at the Norwegian Cup in Lygna next weekend, he could have secured a place in the World Cup. Gunnulfsen has already shown his potential in the classic five miles, with an eighth place finish at Holmenkollen in 2019.
TALKED TO GUNNULFSEN: National team coach Eirik Myhr Nossum confirms Mikael Gunnulfsen is very down after injury.
Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB
– Now I’m very down. I have never been as strong as I am now, and I was hoping to fight for that World Cup ticket. This will take time to digest, says Gunnulfsen, who of course loses the rest of the season.
He was first taken to Lillehammer Hospital. Later on Sunday, he will be transported to Oslo, where he will be operated on tomorrow, according to the press release.
Nossum: – Terrible pity for him.
National team coach Eirik Myhr Nossum also sympathizes with Gunnulfsen.
– I feel terrible pity for him. First of all, it looks like a very painful injury. I think everyone who has hit their leg understands this, says Nossum, who just got off the phone with Gunnulfsen when NRK grabs him.
Nossum confirms that Gunnulfsen was very relevant for the World Cup and, therefore, also a candidate for a medal.
– If you are in a Norwegian team for the World Cup, then you are a candidate for the medal. Mikael was not prepared for the World Cup, it is the races that come now that decide that, but he had very good cards in his hand. Previously he also proved to be a very strong five-mile runner, Nossum says.
He confirms that it was a broken skier that he spoke to, but at the same time a skier who has no intention of giving up.
– You probably said that even before you hit the ground you managed to start thinking about the 15km classic at the Olympics next year. It is also a good opportunity for him, says Eirik Myhr Nossum.
