Kristine Skistad has most obviously gotten under the skin of the Swedes.
The Norwegian national skiing team was furious with Sweden’s Viaplay.
According to Swedish Expressen In its TV commercial, Viaplay made the Norwegian skiing star Kristine Skistad a villain similar to the horror movie The Ring.
Viaplay published its exploits on Saturday before the quarterfinals of the sprint. Viaplay featured the familiar devil character from the movie The Ring in its advertisement for Skistad Samara as Morgan. In its broadcast, Viaplay showed a clip from the film, where Morgan climbs from the TV into the living room. Morgan’s hair had Skistad’s name and at the same time Skistad’s voices could be heard on Viaplay’s broadcast.
Coach of the Norwegian women’s team Stig Kveen was surprised and annoyed by this.
– Did Viaplay do this, he asked Expressen.
Expressen answered yes.
– It’s almost disrespectful. Kristine is very kind, which means a lot to other skiers. He is wonderfully arrogant when things are going well for him, Kveen continued.
Skistad itself was not affected by Viaplay’s capture.
– I think it is only positive. It’s a sign that I’m hated and I like it.
Viapaly’s producer Fredrik Olofsson explained that the company wanted to emphasize the struggle between Sweden and Norway and wanted to show “Norway as a future dark threat”.
Between Norway and Sweden, an even closer competition has formed this season.
Swedish women’s skiers have dominated the sprint races of the World Cup this season, but Skistad has really put a damper on the Swedes’ carts.
Skistad, for example, responded to Viaplay’s prank by winning the sprint race in Canmore on Saturday. The Norwegian sent air kisses towards the Swedes when he crossed the finish line.
If the embed is not visible on your device, you can watch it from here.
Kristine Skistad won on Saturday. PDO