SJUSJØEN (VG) TV 2 experts Petter Northug and Petter Skinstad last week criticized participation in the roller ski competition at the Blink Festival. Now they are supported by Johannes Høsflot Klæbo.

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– I didn’t originally plan to go to Blink regardless of whether everything was fine. But I think it’s important that we think that we make a living off of this. It’s important for us to stand up, Klæbo told VG.

The 25-year-old has had a troubled summer with one a hamstring injury that he hasn’t got rid of. When VG met him in Sjusjøen, the focus was on getting rid of the injury and getting back to training well.

But although he never made the trip to Sandnes and Blinkfestival, he did receive the criticism that followed from Skinstad and Northug.

– All national team runners, regardless of gender, whether you are in the elite team or national team recruits, must strictly follow all televised ski roller races. Every year. It’s their profession, says TV 2 expert Skinstad VG Thursday last week.

Then he and a number of national team players crossed the finish line in the roughly five-mile Blink Classic race during the Blink Festival. Likewise with Ragnhild Haga, as the only runner out of a total of 11 women runners in the national team. Northug branded the whole thing “too bad”.

It is the interest and publicity of cross-country skiing that Skinstad and Northug highlight as an argument that more people should run.

– It is clear that they certainly have views on the fact that it is important for us to stand up and contribute. All of us in the national team have to do it, said Klæbo, who earlier this summer skied at Telemarksveka and Totenrullen. He will go to Toppidrettsveka at the end of August if everything goes according to plan.

The duo also has the support of national team runner Helene Marie Fossesholm when it comes to promoting the sport, but she still doesn’t want to fully agree after the criticism.

– We know that there are always reasons why people don’t participate. When you enter a competition, you have to be prepared for it, Fossesholm told VG and continued:

– For my part, I had participated in Blink eight years in a row before, and I really missed it. I would be more than happy to go there, but I can’t go there just to go and do something really stupid. Because I haven’t had a difficult session in a long time. I started a tough session a month and a half ago, and then you have to take the steps.

Where only one athlete was present from the women’s team, about half of the men’s runners attended.

– Of course we want to be seen in most arenas and competitions are some of the best training. Now I know, as it was said on TV, that it was a bit special with the former national teammates of the girls getting married on the same weekend, to which some were naturally invited. Such a thing cannot be planned, the men’s all-round coach, Eirik Myhr Nossum, told VG.

The World Cup kicks off in Finland’s Ruka on November 25.