Famous for its mountains, fjords and rugged beards, Norway gave the world the Vikings and A-ha — and for good measure it even invented the cheese slicer.
However, when it comes to sport, the Norwegians create headlines about once every four years, when the nation of 5.2 million makes one hell of a racket at the Winter Olympics.
Norway yesterday finished top of the Pyeongchang medals table, winning a record 39 medals — 14 of them gold.
Photo: EPA
“It’s amazing to win this many medals and something to be proud of, but we must keep raising the bar and find new challenges for the future,” Norway’s chef de mission Tore Ovrebo said in an interview.
A winter superpower, Norway failed to win a single gold or silver medal in Rio two years ago.
“Oh, in the summer it’s catastrophic,” Ovrebo said. “We want to improve our system in the summer sport.”
However, Norway’s prowess at winter sports is freakishly impressive.
From Aksel Lund Svindal’s dashing victory in the downhill to the extravagantly bushy mustache of Robert Johansson, who anchored Norway to team ski jumping gold, the Scandinavians have sparkled.
Their success owes much to a quaintly egalitarian approach based on camaraderie and bonhomie — from the grassroots all the way to the Olympic level.
“We are not super-human,” Ovrebo said. “It is organic. This is about organization, it’s about values, it’s about hard work.”
Norway’s tight-knit philosophy means that top skiers share hotel rooms — and even beds — to strengthen team bonding.
Many Norwegian athletes have day jobs to support their Olympic dreams. The team has carpenters, plumbers and teachers among its ranks, Ovrebo said.
“We are part of the real world — we are not like a fairytale,” he said. “It’s hard work.”
The athletes go to eat tacos together on Friday nights after training, and inflated egos are not tolerated.
“No jerks allowed,” Ovrebo said, referencing remarks made by alpine skier Kjetil Jansrud.
“There’s no good explanation for why you have to be a jerk to be a good athlete,” the downhill silver medalist said. “We just won’t have that kind of thing on our team.”
Ovrebo nodded in agreement.
“That kind of culture develops true leadership,” he said. “We have prima donnas in Norway too, but they’re winning medals — and they’re easier to deal with then.”
Despite hitting the right notes in Pyeongchang, Ovrebo said that it had been a long struggle for Norway to establish its system.
“We are strong now, but it has not always been like this,” Ovrebo said. “It’s a vulnerable flower, so we have to be very sensitive in the way we do things.”
Norwegians considered it a national shame when they finished behind Sweden at the 1988 Calgary Games, failing to win a single gold medal.
However, the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics in Norway lit a fuse for many aspiring athletes.
“I’m old enough to remember Lillehammer,” skier Leif Kristian Nestvold-Haugen said. “It was very inspirational. If you see other countries, the talents go to football or basketball. Most Norwegians want to become role models in winter sport.”
Ovrebo underlined what it is that makes the Norwegians tick.
“It can be really tough to be a part of the Norwegian sports system, because the ambition is so high,” he said. “These guys who are winning at the Olympics are guys who have an extreme need to come first. They are obsessed about winning.”
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