The biathlon world association IBU drew the anger of the national teams at the World Championships in Oberhof. The Norwegians in particular are angry. They publicly accuse the association of lying.
“The IBU can’t blame anyone but itself,” Norway’s team manager Per Arne Botnan rumbled to “Verdens Gang” after it was announced hours earlier that almost every nation could have registered at least one more athlete for the World Cup sprint races when they did.
At the World Cup in Antholz, Norway’s coach Egil Kristiansen asked the IBU to issue a statement on how many professionals could start in one race at the World Championships, Botnan claimed. In addition, he himself asked for clarification immediately after arriving in Oberhof.
According to the manager, the IBU announced at the time that a maximum of five athletes per nation could take part in an individual race. On Thursday, however, it was said that the nations could have registered up to six professionals. This is clearly described and prescribed in the rules, explained the IBU, whose statement thus contradicts Botnan’s statement.
The Norwegians reacted at short notice to what they saw as a new interpretation of the rules and nominated Endre Strømsheim for the sprint on Saturday.
The plan was actually to let Filip Fjeld Andersen start, because the 23-year-old is clearly number six in the team. But Andersen had to return home after a positive corona test. A test that might not have been needed if the IBU rules hadn’t been misleading.
Because Andersen was only intended as a substitute in Oberhof from the start, he did not complete the entire preparation with the team, but instead took part in the IBU Cup races in Obertilliach. There, according to the assumption of those responsible, he became infected. However, he would not have been there at all if he had known from the outset that he was allowed to start in the World Championship sprint.
“I’m very disappointed,” said Andersen, who has now arrived in Norway. “I think the IBU handled this whole thing very unprofessionally. You are welcome to apologize, but that doesn’t help much either,” said the 23-year-old, disappointed by the world association.