On most race weekends, I take my job seriously — up at 3:00 am EST, fresh coffee made, woodstove loaded, notebook out, logged on to coverage early to make sure I don’t have a technical issue. Then once the race starts, I begin looking for subtle, important moments to describe in greater detail in the race report. But there are also weekends, like this past one, when I toss my journalism hat onto the mantle above the woodstove to warm for another day, ‘grab a bucket of popcorn’, and watch, specifically, the Norwegian men’s Olympic selection saga unfold like the most incredible reality show in sport.
This year, the selection of Norway’s eight-man Olympic cross-country ski team might be the third most fascinating storyline in the Nordic world — trailing only Jessie Diggins’ farewell tour and the Russians’ return to the start gate. And yet, the drama out of Oslo might be the strangest: imagine being one of the ten fastest skiers alive… and still needing binoculars to see an Olympic start line.
This is what it means to be a Norwegian man in an Olympic year. It is both a birthright and a statistical tragedy.
Erik Valnes (NOR) and Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR), (l-r) crest the final climb before descending into the stadium during the World Cup Classic Sprint in Trondheim (NOR). (Photo: Modica/NordicFocus)
A Nation That Could Sweep Top 10 — and Still Leave Podium Skiers at Home
Let’s get one thing out of the way: on any given Sunday — sprint, classic, skate, distance, mass start, you name it — Norway could theoretically fill the entire top ten of a World Cup with home-grown talent. Twelve deep. Some years, nearly fifteen. The country is, bluntly, absurd.
And yet:
- Only eight can go to Milano–Cortina.
- Only four can start each race.
- Only two can sprint in the team sprint.
- Only four can race the relay.
You can be the fifth-best classic distance skier in the world, wearing red and blue, and never get to test yourself in the Olympic 50 k Classic, the sport’s defining event.
You can be a podium threat.
You can be a badge-wearing World Cup, World Championship, or Olympic winner. And still hear the most devastating phrase in the language of elite skiing: “Reserve.”
Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo leads training partner Emil Iversen durning the Skiathlon in Trondheim (NOR). (Photo: Modica/NordicFocus)
The Ten-Man Hunger Games
After Ruka and Trondheim, the men fighting for eight tickets look something like this:
- Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo — simply the best male skier ever and is a favorite for gold in any race he enters.
- Harald Oestberg Amundsen — has two fifths, one second and a first already this season.
- Martin Loewstroem Nyenget is a force in any distance race, with first, third, fourth, and seventh-place finishes in the races he has entered this season, and is indispensable in the relay.
- Andreas Fjorden Ree— second in the 10 k Freestyle and eighth in the Skiathlon this weekend.
- Einar Hedegart — the young biathlete turned cross-country racer, who doesn’t even have a FIS bio pic, has broken onto the scene this season with a second in Ruka and a win in Trondheim in the two skate distance races he has entered.
- Oskar Opstad Vike — He was second in the Classic Sprint in Trondheim, an Olympic event.
- Erik Valnes — Olympic gold potential in the individual sprint, team sprint, and/or relay.
- Lars Heggen — while he was only fourth in the Classic Sprint in Trondheim, that is an Olympic event.
- Emil Iversen — the comeback story, the steady relay hand, who climbed onto the podium last weekend for the first time in five years.
- Didrik Toenseth — has only started one World Cup, the 10 k Classic in Ruka, thus far, but was in 8th place, and it is an Olympic event. Toenseth is still one of the world’s best in distance races, yet still at risk of not making the team.
That is ten world-class athletes, without even mentioning skiers like Simen Hegstad Krueger, who is knocking at the door and who has won bronze in all the championship 50 k races for years.
Norway only gets to name eight Olympians.
Grab more popcorn.
Norway’s Andreas Fjorden Ree (NOR), Einar Hedegart (NOR), Martin Loewstroem Nyenget (NOR), (l-r) share the podium after the 10km freestyle Trondheim (NOR) last weekend. (Photo: Modica/NordicFocus)
Who Gets the Golden Tickets? Norway’s Math Problem
If the federation’s stated goal is to:
- Sweep the podiums (plural),
- Win the relay,
- Win the team sprint
And possibly have Klaebo win everything except the marble flooring in the athletes’ dining hall, then the selection is not just about speed. It’s about risk management, event coverage, and event specialization.
Here’s how the roles break down:
The Locks (2):
Barring a meteor strike, these two are sharper in December than most nations’ peak athletes in February.
The Near-Locks (2):
- Nyenget — championship DNA, distance weapon.
- Valnes — if classic sprint is a medal event (it is) and you want a dependable classic leg in the relay, Valnes is on the plane.
Didrik Toenseth took third at the 2022 Holmenkollen 50 k Classic. (Photo: NordicFocus)
The Crucial Middle (six guys for four spots):
This is where heartbreak lives.
- Heggen — might already be one of the five best sprinters on earth.
- Ree — versatility is gold in Olympic selection, and he might be Norway’s best “plug into anything” skier outside of Klæbo and Amundsen.
- Hedegart — never flashy, but quietly always where he needs to be.
- Vike — brutal aerobic capacity, championship build. Coaches trust this archetype.
- Iversen — history matters. Championships matter. Norwegians never entirely write him off.
- Toenseth — elite distance skier who would start for literally any other nation.
Pick four.
Explain it to the other two.
Good luck.
Harald Oestberg Amundsen (NOR) wins the 20 k Mass Start Freestyle during the World Cup opening weekend in Ruka (FIN). (Photo: Modica/NordicFocus)
Then There’s the Start-Quota Madness
Let’s say you do make the team.
Let’s say you ski the best season of your life.
Let’s say you’re in the shape of a medalist.
Too bad — your teammates might be in even better shape.
Norway could very realistically bring to Italy:
- Eight skiers capable of a medal in the Skiathlon
- Eight skiers capable of a medal in the Classic Sprint
- Eight skiers capable of a medal in the 10 km Freestyle
- Eight skiers capable of a medal in the 4 x 7.5 k Relay
- Eight skiers capable of a medal in the Freestyle Team Sprint
- Eight skiers capable of a medal in the 50 k Classic
But they can only start four.
Which means a realist must acknowledge something deliciously absurd:
Norway will leave potential Olympic medalists off the Olympic start list. Not just off the team — off the start list.
That is a uniquely Norwegian form of pain.
Oskar Opstad Vike (NOR) on his way to second place during the Classic Sprint last weekend in Trondheim (NOR). (Photo: Modica/NordicFocus)
The Fan in Me Wants A Front Row Seat
I admit it: I want this selection battle to go deep into January.
I want someone to pop one in Davos and get hot in Toblach.
I want the young skiers to keep storming the podiums and scrambling what we think we know.
I want Iversen — or Vike, or Hedegart, or Ree — to force selectors into sleepless January nights.
Because for once, the stakes in Norway aren’t abstract. The Olympics aren’t a coronation; they’re a compression chamber.
There are eight tickets for ten men who could anchor most nations’ relays.
There are four start spots for races where all Norwegian Olympians can podium.
There is no path through this selection period that does not end in heartbreak.
And yes, as a journalist, I will cover every step of it analytically, carefully, and responsibly.
But as a fan?
I’m sitting on the couch, popcorn in hand, and watching the drama unfold. If competitive suffering is the essence of cross-country ski racing, Norway’s selection battle might be the purest expression the sport has.
Bring on Davos.
Bring on Toblach.
Bring on the Tour.
Let the Hunger Games continue.
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Lars Heggen (NOR) was fourth place in the Classic Sprint in Trondheim (NOR) last weekend. (Photo: Modica/NordicFocus)