Skier Petter Northug has decided against competing in the World Cup finals at Falun in Sweden this weekend. He and his coach have decided that he’s simply not in good enough shape and is therefore ending an extremely disappointing season early.
Northug also dropped out of competition at Holmenkollen in Oslo this past weekend after also dropping a World Cup sprint in Drammen last week and failing to win any medals at the Olympics in Sochi.
The final decision to just end the season early came during a training session Tuesday morning. Northug’s coach, Eirik Myhr Nossum, told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) that Northug isn’t feeling well enough to carry out the training needed to be prepared for World Cup races in Falun.
Nossum stressed that the decision was based purely on Northug’s physical form, not on any lack of motivation after the disappointing Olympics. He contends that Northug is healthy, just not in good shape. “If you’re to compete in the World Cup, you have to be in 100 percent top shape, and he (Northug) knows that very well,” Nossum told NRK.
Northug broke away from Norway’s national ski team last year and has skied this year on his own, with his own sponsors and coaches. He fell ill with a virus at the end of last summer, losing two months of training time, but went on to win a 10K race in the Tour de Ski and finished fourth overall.
Fans were urging that he return to the national team this year. Northug himself wasn’t commenting.
newsinenglish.no staff
