Winter sports star not at the World Cup
“Angry, disappointed and sad”
11.02.2025 – 9:36 a.m.Reading time: 2 min.
World championships are a highlight for every athlete. However, the Norwegian combined Espen Björnstad was not nominated – and is stunned.
The Ski World Cup in Saalbach-Hinterglemm in Austria is currently in full swing. The biathlon World Cup in Lenzerheide starts in Switzerland on Wednesday and the Nordic Ski World Cup in Trondheim in Norway will start at the end of February. And in this again the Norwegian Espen Björnstad are not there. The 31-year-old combiner was not nominated and is therefore stunned.
The fact that he misses the home World Cup at his place of birth makes him “angry, disappointed and sad,” as Björnstad told Norwegian public service broadcasting NRK. He also explained with a comparison: “It is almost as if my girlfriend would have broken up with me without giving a good explanation. My whole body hurts, very simple. I feel an emptiness.”
At the World Cup in Otepää, Espen Björnstad took the ninth, fifteenth and thirteenth. The combiner cannot understand the selection process for the squad and criticized: “I would have liked that those responsible would have given us athletes more security. Unfortunately, they screwed it up a little with the entire process.”
The Trondheimer must now follow the World Cup from the sofa. However, Norway’s sports director Ivar Stuan sees no mistake on the part of the association and explained NRK: “We presented the selection criteria in September to the various team coaches and those involved in the selection and follow them all the time.”
However, Björnstad disagrees, said: “I think it should be solved similar to the Olympic selection process. Then there are performance requirements that have to be met to be ready.” However, Stuan believes that in addition to the placements, Constance also plays a role and that this must also be fulfilled by the athletes.
Espen Björnstad said disappointed: “It hurts. I have the feeling that I deserve the space, so it particularly hurts in a way.” Sports director Stuan showed understanding of the pressure that the athletes were exposed to in the fight for the last World Cup tickets behind the placed Jarl Magnus Riiber, Jens Luras Hidebro and Jörgen Graabak. However, he believes that Stuan is open to discussions and feedback on the selection criteria, but believes that the World Cup squad was selected on the right basis.
Einar Lura’s frequentbro, who now got the last World Cup place, said when asked by NRK: “Espen Björnstad and I are good friends, and we talked after the selection, so his criticism is more likely to be addressed to the association . “