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LILLEHAMMER (Dagbladet): – Look here.

Great Britain coach Hans Kristian Stadheim ran for Dagbladet in Lillehammer. He’s eager to show us new photos from the episode between Erik Valnes and James Clugnet during Saturday’s quarter-final, which ended in the loss to the Briton and ruining his chances.

The two crashed on the final turn before the race, and Stadheim believed the image could potentially put the episode in a whole new light. The photo shows, among other things, that Valnes’ arm was “above” the Briton’s.

Discussed for three minutes

Coach makes it clear he wants to show it to Valnes, and it just so happens that it means they’ll be leaning against each other afterwards, in front of Dagbladet and the rest of the media.

Stadheim showed a series of photos and wanted to know what the Norwegian sprint star thought of the situation.

– You can’t get him from the side, because he leaned towards me, said Valnes in a conversation Dagbladet overvar.

– It seemed to me that he was in front and then it was like you grabbed him like that (by the arm), against Stadheim, and showed that the student felt that he had passed.

The discussion lasted a little over exactly three minutes, and soon after we were curious to see if Valnes had changed his mind after the new photos.

– It’s the first time I’ve seen the picture. We actually quite agree. It’s about how we experience it. The situation could be discussed, but someone with a level head and more experience would probably try harder than him, Valnes explained to Dagbladet.

When asked by VG if his arm is overactive, Valnes said:

– No one can avoid him, because he comes so close. I don’t really know, but I don’t hold it. He will cut my skis.

More than an hour after the discussion, a message came from Stadheim:

– After seeing the pictures and talking to Valens, this is another “racing incident”. This is a tight situation where the consequence is that there is little “fight”.

Disturbed

James Clugnet himself was sorely disappointed after Saturday’s sprint won by Johannes Høsflot Klæbo.

– I’m “annoyed” and very frustrated. It feels like it happens to me a lot, he explained to Dagbladet.

– How did you experience the situation?

– I tried to pass Valnes. I passed him as he tried to enter the turn. He was twice my size, and then I fell to the ground. We’ll see what the jury has to say. It felt like it was his fault. This is very boring.

Valnes himself disagrees:

– He doesn’t have a good case. He didn’t quite get past me, and cut in front. He has a good case of advancing at the finish line, if he makes a good substitution instead of running at me. It’s risky.

The 26 year old from Sørreisa uses Johannes Høsflot Klæbo as an example of someone who avoided the episode:

– “Jimmy” is an amazing guy, and that fast. But if you look at Johannes (Høsflot Klæbo) as an example: Everyone tries to tackle him right and left all the time, but he never engages in any nonsense. It was because he played it safe and never looked for such situations. There’s nothing bad about “Jimmy”, because he’s good enough to stand in the final and get on the podium.