No Norwegians And Swedes?  Bad For Sport, Excellent For Popularity

No Norwegians And Swedes? Bad For Sport, Excellent For Popularity

Leaders, Newsfeed
Let us be blunt: Davos Nordic survived & thrived even without two out of three best teams in the world. Were Johaug taking start at Davos Dorf last Sunday, she would likely demolish the competition as per usual, she is particularly strong on altitude. Ditto for the mega-talented crop of the young female Swedish sprinters. But who wants Norwegians and Swedes to win? Not statistically significant majority of fans, not global sponsors and gear manufacturers. And not television rights holders. Those countries' populations are tiny compare to the American, Russian and German. Moreover, the Scandinavian and Finnish xcski goods & services markets appear to be saturated - unlike the big ones were the xcskiing is simply not fashionable enough. Not yet. The way it works, big countries need victories. It's…
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Swedes Are Getting Closer To Norwegians. Here’s How

Swedes Are Getting Closer To Norwegians. Here’s How

Money & Finance, Newsfeed
No, this photo does not imply that Norway and Sweden have decided to annul the Unionsupplösningen and go back to being a single nation once again. It doesn't even mean that in post-Corona times of tight budgets the two ski federations have decided to car share. But it's there for a reason. Because the Swedish ski federation has just announced that they are going to start using the same (Norwegian) travel/ event agency as their western neighbours. The press-release talks about " shared values " - which kinda leaves us baffled - but not being very specific on details. Will the Koment agency now start putting the Swedish athletes in the same hotels as the Norwegian ones? So they could keep an eye on each other - or just learn…
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Jennie Öberg From Team Sweden Hit By Coronavirus, Tells About Her Experiences

Jennie Öberg From Team Sweden Hit By Coronavirus, Tells About Her Experiences

Newsfeed
Jennie Öberg from Team Sweden became the first top-level skier to suffer from COVID-19. A 30 year old from Kalix, which is in Northern Sweden, almost on the border with Finland, describes how it felt in conversation with the Expressen newspaper: - I had around 40 degrees of fever for several days, and no matter how many painkillers I took it never went down. I couldn't eat or drink anything, felt so terrible that could barely leave my bed. It was so bad that at one point in time I was just caught myself thinking “ How long can one manage to endure all this? " https://www.expressen.se/sport/langdskidor/landslagsakaren-pa-sjukhus-for-corona/ In the end the 30 year old had to be taken to the hospital in nearby Luleå where she made a full recovery…
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Sweden Nominates Absolutely Cracking Squad For JWM2020

Sweden Nominates Absolutely Cracking Squad For JWM2020

Leaders, Newsfeed
Sweden seems to be aiming for a clean sweep at female distance races at FIS Nordic Junior & U23 Cross Country World Ski Championships 2020. Particularly in that U23 sub-division, where athletes 21 to 23 years old participate. See who are they sending to Germany next week: [caption id="attachment_14813" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Both Moa Lundgren and Emma Ribom are regular in Top 10 in the World Cup this season[/caption] [caption id="attachment_14814" align="alignnone" width="1920"] But particularly striking is the decision to send Ebba Andersson to Oberwiesenthal for U23 rather than giving her a shot a beating the Norwegians and/ or Natalia Nepryeava at Holmenkollen 30 that is happening at the roughly same time? Could it be Ebba's own decision? [/caption] [caption id="attachment_14809" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Sadly for JWM fans, perhaps the biggest discovery…
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Swedes Get Massive Hike In Individual Salaries, But Team Achievement Bonus Is Gone

Swedes Get Massive Hike In Individual Salaries, But Team Achievement Bonus Is Gone

Money & Finance, Newsfeed
Base salary of the national team athletes was hiked quite a bit in a recent decision by the Swedish ski federation, DN reports Charlotte Kalla, Stina Nilsson, Ebba Andersson & Co will from now on get SEK 200000/ year or around 18.700 Euros. Not exactly what country's top football or ice hockey players are used to but much better than previous SEK 120000/ year Apart from the base salary raise, there are also more bonuses: a winner of a FIS World Cup stage would take home SEK 50000, second place would bring 30 and third 20K. Previously only winners were paid. What's gone is a peculiar collective same-for-all bonus Swedish skiers were previously paid if they took 30 World Cup podiums between them. Not so much jämlikhet any longer?
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