Emma Kirkberg-Mork (19) takes gold and bronze in the junior tournament, but great talent is not allowed in the national team recruited. Recently resigned national team coach Ole Morten Iversen reacted to the wreck.
On Monday, the national team will be presented as needed Management without Therese Johaug And Maiken Caspersen Vala. Teams will be built for the World Cup at their home ground in Trondheim in 2025 and the Olympics in Italy in 2026. None of Norway’s greatest talents in figure skating have found a place in the enlisted national team.
A while ago, head coach Torstein Dreyfuss called Emma Kirkberg Mork.
– He said I had good enough results, but they don’t have enough vacancies and that I’m not broad enough as a skater. I’ve performed in both classics and skiing, but I clearly don’t have a broad enough competence, Kirkeberg Mørk tells VG.
Last season she was in the junior national team. When the wreck came, I was very disappointed.
I tried to get an excuse, but I didn’t get a definitive answer that I understood. I was more than qualified, but they didn’t have a free space like he said. I was sorry, but now it’s getting a little annoying, and I want to go faster next year, they won’t be allowed to stop me from performing, Kirkeberg Mørk tells VG.
The 19-year-old from Drammen won the World Cup gold medal in the junior relay in February. She became the best Norwegian in the 5 km classic with a World Cup bronze at the same tournament, four seconds off the gold medal. She finished 4th, 5th, 8th and 14th in the Scandinavian Seniors Cup and was fifth in the 10km NM Seniors Run.
The 19-year-old was absolutely sure that he would take a place in the inducted national team.
Torstein Drivenes presents its recruiting team on Monday, and coaches are the ones to recommend cross-country coach Espen Bervig, before the cross-country committee approves the selection.
Before the World Cup on our soil, it is very important to have a good recruiting team. We can pass runners in such a situation that they can compete for the gold at the World Cup when they move to the elite team, Dreyfus tells VG on Sunday night.
Kirkberg-Mork comments have been provided, but he will not comment on this specific case until after the national team selection is announced on Monday at 14:00.
Smell
Earlier in the season, the 19-year-old received another blow. She was hoping the results would keep trying at the World Cup. Kirkeberg Mørk was closely related to Planica, Holmenkollen and Falun. She received a phone call from the then national team coach Ole Morten Iversen.
– He said I was athletic, but I wasn’t allowed to go because I was too young. For me, going to the World Cup was a very big motivation. Young people were allowed to go before, if you’re good enough, you’re old enough, says Kirkberg-Mork and adds:
We kids can stand to see results in black and white, and there’s no reason to protect us. Going to the World Cup has given a lot of good experience about the framework around racing, the disposition of the race and where to stand against the best player in the world.
Ole Morten Iversen brought some advice and ideas on the way forward for Norwegian women’s cross-country skiing to the management, before resigning as coach of the national team. On paper, his last day at the Ski Federation was on Saturday.
– On my recommendation, Emma was in the national recruiting team. I’m very surprised it doesn’t exist. They have to think three or four years ahead. Then it is wise to go out on a large scale. We don’t know who will be as good as the old people, so we have to give them a chance, before we head again toward the next Olympics, Iverson tells VG.
defends the decision
VG wrote on Saturday about several experts who Calls for a real commitment to young talent, now that only Heidi Wing has stayed gold with Marit Björgen, Therese Johaug, Astrid Orenholdt Jacobsen, Meiken Caspersen Vala, and more. Aside from the gold machine Gohaug, Norway had only seven places on the podium at the World Cup last season. Johaug was the only Norwegian woman to win a medal at the Olympics. Now it has been published.
defends the decision
Ole Morten Iversen believes there should be a separate women’s recruiting team with their own coach.
“I think he’d be a force with a relatively large recruiting team with a mix of second-best runners behind the elite team and young runners,” Iverson says.
He is still defending his decision not to send Kirkberg Mork to the World Cup this winter.
– I went quickly and I don’t mind going to the World Cup or the tournament, even if I was young. But those who did were on another level. Therese and Helen (Marie Vossholm) won it all as a kid. They were on another level. So I indicated a dose of patience. It was considered by Holmenkolin and Fallon, but we wanted to match it carefully. Iverson says Emma can go to the World Cup, as long as she’s going fast next season.
Maria Hartz Melling (19) of the junior national team won the World Cup last season, and was number 32 in the sprint in Drammen.
Helen Marie Vossholm was selected for the elite team at the age of 19:
Kirkberg Mork will turn 20 in December. This is her last season as a junior. She is unsure of the sporting plan for next season. She needs to find sponsors and someone to train with. The 19-year-old is interested in getting matching training, but takes comfort in the fact that you have to do the training yourself anyway.
The 19-year-old believes in the Swedish model where the national team holds all the meetings with the elite team, and they also have the same coaches.
– It can certainly be very difficult, but on the other hand it is a golden opportunity to test yourself against the best. You can train with better athletes than them. Then it raises the next automatic level, Kirkeberg Mørk tells VG.
Last season, there were six women on the junior national team, six women on the national recruiting team and eleven on the elite team.
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