Cross-country skiing: Out of the running after seeing the finish line photo: 'Oh!''

Cross-country skiing: Out of the running after seeing the finish line photo: 'Oh!'' – NRK Sport – Sports news, results, and broadcast schedule

Much has been said about Petter Northug during the Norwegian Championships in Gåsbu; however, the former sprint king was significantly behind when talent Mathias Holbæk and national star Harald Østberg Amundsen sprinted for the championship gold in the 20 km classic start with ski change on Saturday.

Amundsen celebrated over the finish line, but the final result was delayed and a photo finish was required to separate them. For everyone except Amundsen, it was unclear who had actually been fastest.

In the end, Amundsen was declared the winner, but he was very surprised when he saw the images again.

– "Oh! I thought I won by more. Now I understand why you were confused. It looked very close," said Østberg Amundsen, who continues, "It’s great to take this win. It was close, but I wanted to show who the boss is for one more year."

Holbæk took the narrow loss with a smile but promises revenge.

– "He gets this one year, but next year I’ll ensure I win it," said the Southerner.

He lost a sprint in junior World Championships two years ago and has used that defeat as his phone background ever since. Now he plans to change the image.

– "I’ll wake up to that every day and use it as motivation. I’ll come back stronger," said the silver medalist.

Much of the focus remained on slower Northug during the classic distance as he gradually fell further behind. As the gap between Northug to the leaders reached two minutes, NRK commentator Jann Post remarked, "The blindfold has come down for today."

When Østberg Amundsen sped past him with a broken pole, Northug knew he wasn’t at the required level.

Northug ultimately finished two minutes and 55 seconds behind. "That’s fine. It’s a tired man on day three of the championships, dealing with a bit of chaos, but it was more about staying relaxed," he explained to NRK.

The race also highlighted Northug's training plans; he favored using the classic grip for this segment rather than the skating techniques he utilized when finishing eighth in the 10 km classic earlier in the week.

Next year’s technique

NRK’s images reveal that Northug’s diagonal technique isn’t as sharp as it used to be, prompting critical feedback from top racers.

"It’s not allowed to air this on NRK, right? If you want to focus on skiing, that was pretty weak technically. It became a struggle from the ski change," explained Northug.

Today’s winner Amundsen doesn’t hold back when he views the evidence of Northug's technique.

"It does not look good. A potato sack, quite simply."

– "What do you mean by potato sack?"

– "That’s the epitome of falling through in diagonal technique. You turn into a sack of potatoes," Amundsen replied.

"There are many who work on having their hips high, but Petter right now works on having low hips. He’s trying to revolutionize the skiing sport, quite simply. That might be next year's technique," joked Emil Iversen, echoing Amundsen's judgment.

"He looks a bit like a potato sack, and that's not what you hope for when skiing classic."

Self-criticizing: Northug reflected on his technique and body following his performance at the Championships, revealing, "It’s been a while since I thought about using grip. It’s unfamiliar, and I realize I’m not training much for it," he concluded.

Published January 18, 2025, at 13:58 Update January 18, 2025, at 15:26