Trouble in the Norwegian biathlon team: Although Endre Strømsheim is in the form of his life, the 25-year-old is consistently ignored by the coaches of the senior team. His disappointment is great.
The 2022/23 Biathlon World Cup has been a big one-man show so far. Superstar Johannes Thingnes Bø dominates the competition at will and has won six of the first seven races of the season. From the Norwegian team, only Sturla Holm Laegreid, who has also been on the podium six times, presented himself at almost the same level.
Because Tarjei Bø, Johannes Dale, Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen and Co. are weak at the same time, some from the second Norwegian row had hoped for a chance to compete in the next World Cup races in Annecy. One of them is Endre Strømsheim, who dominates the IBU Cup in a similar way to Johannes Thingnes Bø in the World Cup.
After three wins and a second place in the first four races, Strømsheim actually flirted with a promotion to the A squad. But the 25-year-old was ignored by the coaches even before the trip to France.
“The only thing I could have done better would have been four first places. But I don’t think even that would have changed anything,” Strømsheim told “TV2” about the Norwegian coaching team’s decision, which he can’t understand.
“I can’t remember ever having such a good start. I’m starting to wonder what it takes to get a chance. The question is whether it works without one of the others being sick ‘ complained Stromsheim.
When asked how coach Egil Kristiansen explained to him that he was not called up for the first squad again, the 25-year-old said angrily: “He can make that argument himself.”
Biathlon legend understands Strømsheim’s anger
One who agrees with Strømsheim and can understand his anger is Norwegian biathlon legend Ole Einar Bjørndalen. He says: “The way he performed in the IBU Cup, he has a place [im Weltcup-Team] earned.”
At the same time, Bjørndalen knows that the Norwegian team is the “best of all time” and that it is therefore difficult to even get into the senior team. Even the Norwegian B team is so strong that it would be “among the biggest competitors of the A team, Sweden and France,” speculated Bjørndalen.