Norwegian Klebo missed Bolshunov: “incredibly good skiers”

Ski genius wants to start the season by competing against rivals from Russia

More recently, once again answering the question of whether it is worth returning Russian skiers to international starts, the world sports star confidently said: no. But the season is approaching, and the starts can turn into skiing in the Norwegian championship, because there will be no one to compete with athletes without the Russians. And this is not necessary even for the Norwegians.

Now the head coach of the Norwegians, Eric Muir Nossum, who recently said in an interview with Dagbladet that he was waiting for the Russians to return to ski starts this year, is also supported by Johannes Klebo. Nossum, expressing the hope that the Russian skiers would return, said simply: the Norwegians need good competitors. “Russia has been a leading country in skiing, with perhaps the best skier in the world – Alexander Bolshunov.”

Johannes Klebo spoke about rivalry with Alexander at the same time. True, a little annoyed. “I don’t need any Bolshunov to motivate myself. I think I’m the one who spends the least time and energy on finding out what Bolshunov is doing. Although he admitted that, of course, he has great respect for Alexander’s performances on the track, he has always been an important competitor. “But my driving force has always been competition with myself.” And he advocated the removal of Russian skiers.

In early August, Klebo again confirmed: “I firmly stand on what I said before.” That is, Russia should not be at the start. But he already doubted that his personal motivation would not suffer due to the absence of Russian rivals.

The argument in favor of the suspension was as follows: until Ukrainian skiers can take part in international competitions. Ukraine in cross-country skiing is, frankly, not the most significant link, they, unlike biathletes, are not heard or seen. But so Klebo decided to show solidarity.

Yes, and about “can” – it’s not so simple either. So far, Ukrainians have competed in all competitions in other sports, in contrast to the suspended Russia and Belarus. For example, at the last summer biathlon world championship in Ruhpolding. And Ukrainian athletes conduct training in Europe, again, unlike ours.

But the season is approaching, the position of the five-time Olympic champion has softened a bit. In a new interview with the Norwegians, he said that “for the common good, I would like the participation of the Russians from the very beginning.” Klebo emphasized: we are talking about incredibly good skiers, usually claiming places on the podium and winning the World Cup. These skiers “would like to have rivals”, but after the end of the special operation. Due to the events in Ukraine, the International Ski Federation (FIS) suspended Russian athletes from international competitions under its auspices at the end of February, to complete the performance in the World Cup of the 2021 season / 2022 they failed. The suspension decision remains in effect until “further notice”.