Misinterpreted?
Interfestation for tears from Norway star to the World Cup medal
28.02.2025 – 9:46 a.m.Reading time: 1 min.
At the Nordic Ski World Cup, Gyda Westvold Hansen secured silver in the combination. Afterwards she cried bitterly – were the tears wrong?
Gyda Westvold Hansen wanted to get her third World Cup title in the Nordic combination in front of a home crowd in Trondheim. But nothing came of it. The Norwegian flew 94.5 meters away and thus secured the silver medal behind the Japanese Yuna Kasai. The TV broadcast showed how Westvold Hansen then ran tears over the cheeks.
The 22-year-old seemed dissolved. In the ZDF broadcast, moderator Lena Kesting spoke of a “completely disappointed” Westvold Hansen. “It is the first world championship where she does not go from the hill as a gold medal winner,” continued Kesting. However, the combined man explained the scene very differently at the Norwegian public service broadcasting NRK.
“I have probably trained four or five hours a day in the past three weeks and I am therefore very pleased that it had a positive influence. I never thought that I was so close to the gold today,” said Gyda Westvold Hansen. Then she emphasized: “This silver tastes better than the two gold medals I already have.”
So were the tears wrong? Only the athlete herself will know. However, NRK expert Magnus Moen explained: “I don’t think she is completely satisfied.” ZDF expert and ex-ski jumper Severin Freund said that the pressure at an home tournament was even greater: “Then of course a silver medal is no longer worth as much.”