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The good old war of words between Norway and Sweden is on. Personally, I feel most of the fear and dread before the World Cup premiere.
Swedish ski princess Linn Svahn has already started the war of words against Queen Therese Johaug, while Dagbladet commentator Esten O. Sæther claims in a column that Sweden is waging a campaign against Johaug.
Personally, I feel most of the fear and dread before the World Cup premiere.
After this post was written, it became known that Norway’s national team coach Eirik Myhr Nossum tested positive for Covid-19.
Much is different at this time.
Normally, all athletes, leaders and fans look forward to starting the World Cup season in Ruka, Finland.
Journalists tend to be happy and expectant like children on Christmas Eve.
This is not the case in the year of the pandemic.
The work will be done, hopefully with intact health before, during and after the competitions.
ALSO READ: Klæbo reacts to outbreak of infection in the national soccer team
Swedish national team doctor Per “Piggen” Andersson admits he is upset at work. For SVT, he says the situation is extremely complex and stressful.
The question of responsibility falls on him. It’s easy to understand.
Do you want to send the team to Ruka or not?
What could the consequences be?
He didn’t want to change jobs either with “Piggen” or with his Norwegian colleague Øystein Andersen for a second.
In a world of nightmare, the entire computer can become infected. Dread and horror.
Yes, imagine if some of the youngsters get infected and ill at the Rantasippi Hotel in Ruka, perhaps so ill that their careers are completely destroyed and the quality of life deteriorates forever.
Who is responsible for it?
Skiing plays a strong game. A risky and dangerous game, I think.
There is no doubt about that.
Also read: I can’t understand what the boss of Norway is doing: – Terrible, I would have been furious
The FIS has the ultimate responsibility for the World Cup. They listen to local, regional and national authorities.
And they let the circus go on until an organizer is forced to speak, like Lillehammer 4.-6. December.
Around the same time that Sweden’s Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, with a grim look and serious tone, spoke to the nation about SVT and urged the country’s citizens to take Covid-19 very seriously, I was informed that Davos had given the go-ahead to run the World Cup 12..-13. December.
Yes Yes. It rhymes badly with Löfven’s words:
Don’t take unnecessary trips. Wash your hands. Keep your distance. Stay at home. To resist. We are doing this together, “said the Prime Minister.
For those who may have listened to the sweet brother.
Self-critical, I have to ask myself a question: “How important is the Ski World Cup at the moment?”
Answer: It is not very important.
I experience that the common sense and the logical sense of the direction of the FIS have been greatly reduced when the importance of the World Cup in the pandemic is valued.
Is this wise, Gian Franco Kasper?
FIS and Kasper are not standing firm, despite the fact that more than three million have died in the wake of the pandemic.
Health is obviously not the most important thing. It is money that rules, the big sponsors and the media companies.
Active people who work cross-country skiing are linked to the hands and feet of loyalty to associations and sponsors, who nurture their initiatives.
They have become hostages in their own jobs.
In a World Cup season, few, if any, will actively announce to the national team leadership that they will not participate in competitions in the risky circus.
So the World Cup ticket to Oberstdorf in late February may quickly become harder to come by. If there will be a World Cup, then.
Now, practitioners and leaders will live in their “bubbles” and protect themselves from the public before Ruka leaves on charter flights to Sweden and Norway, which have a lot of money.
Social gatherings will be very few. Opportunities for the media to cover the competitions are very limited. In Ruka, there won’t be many more than Ernst Lersveen from NRK and TV 2.
Dark Ruka is going to be like a desert with few points of light and energy sources. The images of the races will be a kind of joyous spread for all sports addicts on television.
I previously wrote a blog and asked FIS to take responsibility. They were to try to drive Ruka and then put the World Cup on hold until after the New Year.
Let nations instead try to keep the wheels rolling with national competitions and cup models like Beitostølen and Bruksvallarna.
Today I am more skeptical. Much more skeptical.
Unfortunately, the trend is going in the wrong direction.
My love for the sport still exists, but it should not be practiced at any cost.
In Beitostølen, I heard an interview in which Simen Lønning of Nettavisen asked the director of the Norwegian national team, Espen Bjervig, if he is “sorry”.
The answer was quite clear:
– Yes, I do? Yes all the time!
However, Norway sends a full squad to Ruka, ten men and ten women, and in addition to the jumpers and runners combined.
Sweden sends eight women and five men, with a limited number of leaders.
I have even talked to practitioners who have been left without sleep with anxiety and headaches.
“What responsibility do I have when the infection spreads here at home like fire in dry grass, and friends and family feel isolated in their homes and apartments in fear of losing their loved ones and their jobs? We can also continue the party. And I agree with that … »
No, Linn Svahn’s sting against Johaug and Esten O. Sæther’s subsequent perception that Sweden is campaigning against their country’s golden calf is not something that raises my pulse at the moment.
Not when the world is fighting an invisible competitor that no one can mentally remove and that can repress everyone, both runners and journalists.
/ Torbjörn Nordvall
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