– This is a very difficult message to accept, said Ingvild Flugstad stberg in a press release from the Norwegian Ski Association.

On the morning of Christmas Day 2, the association sent a message that stberg would not be joining the Tour de Ski. In addition, the Olympics for 31 years of Gjøvik.

– I’ve been doing a lot of work, doing my best, feeling good and having fun participating in cross country skiing again. Dreams are shattered, but I can do nothing but look forward.

NRK Expert: – Olympics has never been more important than health

On Instagram, Stberg posted a message thanking him for the support.

– Feels brutal after the hard work that has been done and I feel really good. Dreams shattered. It was definitely not the Christmas present I wanted, he wrote in the post.

NRK on Christmas Day 2 tried to master stberg to no avail.

Don’t regret anything

This isn’t the first time Stberg has been denied a race. He was denied re-entry in November 2019 because he did not meet several requirements in the Norwegian Ski Association health certificate. After participating in several competitions in the same winter, he was sidelined again in March 2020.

Since then, he has suffered two fractures due to exhaustion and has endured collection and competition refusals.

But on November 8 this year, good news came. After nearly 20 months without competition, he was declared ready for the World Cup.

The balance between recovery, nutrition and training is satisfactory, according to cross-country manager Espen Bjervig and doctor ystein Andersen. stberg had to run three races before Christmas. But now it’s over again.

When asked if he regretted anything they had done, or had not done, since November 8, Dr. Andersen answered as follows:

– It’s a competitive sport he does. As I see it, it is right to give him the opportunity to do so. But we have to constantly see if he can stand it. It was fair to give him that chance.

– Was it too hasty a decision then?

– No, it’s not like what I saw then, and I can’t see it now, Andersen said.

The new evaluation stopped it

The three competitions he participated in in November and December varied widely. It didn’t start well at the Finnish Ruka. But slowly but surely, stberg has managed to return to a very high level. At Davos in mid-December, she finished eighth, just half a minute behind Therese Johaug.

The Gjøvik girls only used the Tour de Ski to beat the Olympic team. But a recent evaluation of the health situation put an end to that.

– It turned out that, unfortunately, he couldn’t take the next step and compete any more. The situation is not good enough.

He says the reasoning is the same as before: The total situation around diet and exercise means that the balance isn’t right at the moment.

– And then the competitive situation demands what it does. We have tried to reduce as much as possible, but the condition is that we always take care of our health at the same time. And unfortunately we were there he couldn’t continue.

– Olympics has never been more important than health

NRK expert Torgeir Bjørn is not surprised by the news that stberg will once again have to go skiing.

– This is an uncertain situation throughout the summer and fall. He was given the opportunity to compete again in the first half of the season, but clearly concluded that it was not justified to compete, said Bjørn.

He believes health should come first in this situation.

– stberg has received good follow-up from the Olympic Summit and the Norwegian Ski Association in this process. Both he and everyone else should be happy that you put your feet up when needed.

– Olympics has never been more important than health. From a sporting point of view, there is no doubt that he is good enough to go to the Olympics. It was always on the cards that it was his health situation that determined whether he went to the Olympics, not the outcome of the sport.

Falla stands on the Tour de Ski

The Tour de Ski begins in Lenzerheide, Switzerland on December 28. Apart from stberg, Maiken Caspersen Falla will be in the house.

– Maiken has yet to find his way back into the energy he needs to go on tour, national team coach Ole Morten Iversen said in a press release.

– Therefore he stays at home and prepares for winter competitions and championships.

Anna Svendsen and Ane Appelkvist Stenseth replaced Falla and Stberg on the Tour de Ski.