The Norwegians banned their skiers from going to the Youth Olympics. The athletes weren't even asked

 Strange decision of the Scandinavians.

In mid-January, a big holiday for young athletes—the Winter Youth Olympics—starts in the South Korean city of Gangwon-do. True, not everyone was invited to this event. They don’t want to see Russian aspiring athletes at the Games, even in a neutral status. But if our athletes are not allowed in by IOC officials, then Norwegian skiers are prohibited from going to the Youth Olympics by their own bosses.

Scared for the future

The Winter Youth Olympics began to be held in 2012. They are attended by athletes aged 15 to 18 years. Otherwise, everything here is like in adults. The Games also take place every four years, and there is an election for the host country, for which several cities submit their applications. Medals at the next Olympics will be competed for in 15 sports, and a total of 81 sets of awards will find their owners. The overall medal count is also maintained at the Games. By the way, four years ago in Lausanne, Russian athletes collected the most awards. They have 10 gold, 11 silver and 8 bronze.

However, it is the adult trappings of the Youth Olympics that frighten sports officials in Norway, and specifically those in charge of cross-country skiing. They consider participation in the Games to be the wrong step on their development ladder.

“We think it is too early to send athletes to such a big tournament, which is one of the biggest events you can experience in life,” says Brit Baldishol, head of development for the Norwegian Ski Association. “We have an idea that the first thing athletes have the opportunity to qualify for as juniors is the Nordic Junior Championships.”

Russia and Norway have always had different approaches to training athletes. Sometimes it was even set as an example that the Scandinavians do not demand high results from children, so that they receive only pleasure from training and performances. However, the current ban on participation in the sports festival sounds absurd.

The Norwegian Ski Association fears that participation in such tournaments will lead to boys and girls losing their hunger for sports. Plus, they don’t want unnecessary psychological stress on their bodies.

“We have a development ladder, and we decided to follow it in ski racing,” says Baldishall.

— Do you think that athletes are not mature enough?  — a question from an NRK journalist.

“No, but why would they go through one of the greatest experiences you can have at 18 years old if they know they have a long career ahead of them?” - retorts the head of the development department of the Norwegian Ski Association.

Example of Northug and Johaug

However, in Norway many did not understand such conclusions and decisions. Young skier Anna Heggen, who brought the country silver at the Youth Olympics four years ago in Lausanne, does not agree with the federation: “I think it’s stupid that no one is sent to the Games. I see no reason why they shouldn't do this. For me it was an experience and the main goal of that year, since we were too young to go to the Junior World Championships. I felt like an Olympic athlete."

NRK expert Fredrik Okland believes that early victories at major tournaments do not dull the competitive hunger, but, on the contrary, give an additional impetus to the development of athletes. Examples include Petter Northug and Teresa Johaug, who collected bags of medals at youth and junior levels, and when they moved up to adult sports, they became the strongest in the world.

“I completely disagree with the decision of the Norwegian Ski Association,” explains Auckland. — Being a leader at an early stage of your career is not dangerous. This is a prerequisite for becoming the best as an adult, but it is not an obstacle to a long sports career. If we look at many of those who have achieved good results, they competed in major tournaments at an early age.”

At the previous three Youth Olympics, the Norwegians did not collect many medals. We started with ninth overall team place in 2012, finished fifth in 2016 and eighth at the Lausanne Games in 2020. Most of the awards for the team were brought by skiers. But in Kanwando you will have to cope without them. A delegation of 48 athletes will travel to South Korea from Norway. The 2024 Winter Youth Olympics starts on January 19.