Norway doesn’t just dominate the ski trails and slopes any longer. The country best known known for its winter sports champions also has several medal candidates at the Summer Olympics in Paris, which got off to a festive if wet start heading into the weekend.
Norway will be represented at what the Norwegians call Sommer-OL by its largest group of athletes in 42 years. A total of 109 Norwegians qualified and were selected for the group dubbed “Team Norway,” up from 94 at the last summer games in Tokyo.
“We have a diverse, strong and large troop at the Olympics in Paris,” said Tore Øvrebø, head of the national athletics federation Norges Idrettsforbundet, when the team was presented earlier this summer. “We haven’t had so many summer athletes since the OL (Olympiske Leker) in Munich in 1972 (when 116 Norwegians took part).”
Both the national men’s and women’s handball teams are taking part along with more than 20 track and field athletes, swimmers, rowers, shooters, wrestlers, sand volleyball players and others. Star hurdler Karsten Warholm and runner Jakob Ingebrigtsen rank high among gold medal candidates, as do top golfer Viktor Hovland and tennis star Casper Ruud, who’ll be sharing living accommodations at the Olympic Village in Paris.
Ruud said he was especially keen to take part in his first Olympics, 32 years after his father Christian Ruud battled against former tennis star Boris Becker at the summer games in Barcelona in 1992. The elder Ruud is now coaching his son.
“I mostly travel around the world alone and play in good tournaments,” Ruud said at a press conference last week. Newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN) reported Saturday that his individual accomplishments on the golf course resulted in income of NOK 45.5 million last year, a dizzying amount compared to most other Norwegian athletes. At the Olympics, though, “I’m part of a team and will play for Norway. That makes OL special for me.”
Ruud was due to play on Sunday, leaving him able to take part in the opening ceremonies Friday night along with other top athletes like Katrine Lunde of the women’s handball team and swimmer Henrik Christiansen. Many of the other athletes who’ll be in action during the latter half of the Olympics haven’t traveled to Paris yet, or were tied up with training exercises.
Lunde and sand volleyball player Christian Sørum carried Norway’s flag during the opening ceremonies, and said they felt honoured to do so. Lunde’s team had already had a disappointing start to OL, losing to Sweden in an opening handball match on Thursday, but was smiling again Friday night. “I’m proud to represent Norway in my fifth Olympics, and to be a flag bearer,” she said. Her team was due to be back in action on the handball court late Sunday afternoon, against Denmark.
The Olympics run through August 11. Several of the Norwegian athletes have taken Olympic gold before, but missed having cheering spectators in the grandstands at the last Olympics in Tokyo, which were restricted because of the ongoing pandemic at the time. “This is going to be fantastic,” hurdler Warholm told news bureau NTB last week. “I feel fast, but the other guys run fast, too.”
Warholm is a favourite for another gold medal. Runner Jakob Ingebrigtsen, meanwhile, is the favourte in both the 1,500- and 5,000 meter races. He’s been caught up in a conflict with his former coach and father Gjert Ingebrigtsen, but the next court action in the case was postponed until after the Olympics. Other medal candidates include wrestler Grace Bullen, weight-lifter Solfrid Koanda and Jeanette Hegg Duestad, who’ll be in action with her rifle during the weekend.
Norway’s athletics federation set a goal of eight medals during the next two weeks, the same as in Tokyo, where Norwegians won four gold, two silver medals and two bronze. “It will be demanding,” said Øvrebø, “but with good preparations I have faith we can reach the goal.”
NewsinEnglish.no/Nina Berglund
