Norway’s winter sports athletes have been traveling to South Korea during the past week, especially those who’ll be competing right after the Winter Olympics open in Pyeonchang on Friday. The trips didn’t all go smoothly.
The Norwegian women’s biathlon team, which has several medal candidates including Tiril Eckhoff favoured for a gold, seemed to have the worst time when they flew out of Oslo late last week. News bureau NTB reported how snowstorms, flight delays and baggage trouble made for a rough trip via Helsinki and Seoul.
Their flight from Oslo was delayed by three hours, spoiling their connection in Helsinki which was also hit by bad weather. “It was demanding, with lots of snow at the airport,” biathlon team spokesman Halvor Lea told NTB. “The flight on to Seoul was delayed by nearly six hours, partly because of all the snow and damage to a wheel. Then it was too slippery to taxi away from the gate.”
They finally made it to their destination, but then faced bitterly cold temperatures that disrupted training programs for all the athletes gathering in South Korea from all over the world. Olympic biathlon action was starting up on Wednesday, even before the Opening Ceremonies on Friday.
newsinenglish.no staff
