First Case in 55 Years: Champion Skier Dropped from Norwegian World Championship Team – 'It’s Not Easy Being Norwegian'

The World Championships in cross-country skiing will be held in Trondheim, Norway from February 26 to March 9, 2025, with Yle broadcasting the event.

On January 15, 2025, in Gåsbu, Norwegian skier Henrik Dönnestad crossed the finish line as the national champion in a 10 km classical interval start race. He beat competitors such as Pål Golberg by 35 seconds and Erik Valnes by 53 seconds, while Simen Hegstad Krüger trailed by one minute and two seconds and Andreas Ree by one and a half minutes. These four athletes had been selected to represent Norway at the World Championships in Trondheim ahead of the national championships.

A week after the Gåsbu race, Dönnestad received a one-minute phone call from Norway’s head coach, Eirik Myhr Nossum, whose message was blunt: he would not be included in the World Championship team. Dönnestad explained that he had hoped his commanding victory margin would secure him a place, but the selection process, influenced by factors such as shared training affiliations and recent results, did not favor him this time.

The article notes that this is the first such incident in 55 years. Previous similar cases include when sprint specialist Timo Andre Bakken missed the Falun World Championships and a 2014 incident involving Simen Östensen, who was left out of the Olympic team. It also highlights the extremely high demands within Norwegian men’s cross-country skiing—where even a World Cup race win does not guarantee inclusion in elite competitions. Dönnestad, who has only 14 World Cup starts (half of which came at last season’s Tour de Ski) and a notable performance against Iivo Niskanen, remains determined to compete and earn his chance at future events, including the upcoming Italian Winter Olympics in 2026.