Norwegian athletics is the talk of the country.
The last time Norwegian female athletes won a gold medal was 22 years ago. Pictured is Amalie Luel at the Tokyo Olympics. PDO
In Norway, people are confused about the level of athletics in the country.
Norway’s female athletes last won a gold medal 22 years ago. Only six medals have been won by female athletes since 2001 – three silver and three bronze.
At the same time, there have been 33 medals on the men’s side, 19 of which have been gold. Jakob Ingebrigtsen won two gold medals at the European Championships in Munich. Karsten Warholm also won gold at the Games.
– We see that it is difficult for women to get to the top and they often end the sport earlier than men, sports director of the Norwegian Athletics Federation Erlend Slokvik comment for NRK.
– We are aware of the problem and it has been like this for a long time.
The previous Olympic medal was won by Kjersti Tysse Plätzer at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He won the 20 km walking race. In the European Championships, Karoline Bjerkeli Grovdal received the most recent medal in the 3,000-meter hurdles in 2018.
No Norwegian female athlete has won a medal in athletics at the World Championships of the 2000s. According to NRK expert Vebjorn Rodal, women’s lack of success is a mystery.
– There is no question that women are not as talented as men. Two questions arise: does poor recruiting have anything to do with this, or are the coaches’ skills weak? If the recruitment has been handled well enough, then we have to ask questions about coaching skills, Rodal reflected.
Slokvik replied that there have been no problems with recruitment.
– Technical coaching skills are a bit too thin. Boys are more independent, girls need more monitoring.
– Many girls find it difficult to move to the top level. We have no expertise in that.
Kjersti Tysse Plätzer is the previous female athlete to bring home a medal from the Olympics. PDO