This month’s coverage of [global sporting event in Italy] is supported by Runners’ Edge Alaska. We sincerely appreciate their belief in what we are doing here.
By Gavin Kentch
LAGO DI TESERO — There was a men’s team sprint held here yesterday. You may have heard something about it; if not, maybe this will jog your memory:
You can also read my flash recap with its flights of poesy at the end, Peter Minde’s deep dive, and Noah Eckstein’s fine treatment of the women’s race. Over at NPR, meanwhile, Nat Herz brought you probably the single most important story of the day with his dogged reporting, while also somehow finding the time to file this nice piece on the importance of local ties for the Anchorage Daily News. Plus an hour-long episode of the Devon Kershaw Show. Dude is grinding.
But perhaps you would like even more content from yesterday? If so, you are in luck: Here is full audio from the press conference with the men’s podium winners. Legible sound starts at 36 seconds in, with the first question coming at a little after 2:40 following an introduction from the host.
A particular comedic highlight comes when Nat asks Klæbo what it was like to have Gus putting up a fight on the final hill… and Gus (sitting immediately next to Johannes) says, “be nice”… and Klæbo affects a serious voice and initially says, “I was just completely exhausted” before resuming his narrative of what actually happened. This was legit hilarious. Dude wins everything in sight, is gorgeous, is super nice, and also has a finely honed sense of humor. And they say that the gods do not grant all things to man at one time.
Also look for me asking two questions, and Nat asking I think three. We’re working nearly as hard as the wax techs out here. Actually, that’s a lie, we’re not, but we are working pretty darn hard.
Anyway, here is the audio from yesterday’s press conference:
And here is an automatically generated transcript of same. This was done by a computer. I have not independently reviewed this against the audio the way I would before quoting from this. A lot of this is quite good; LLM transcription is often shockingly accurate these days. But I want to make very clear how reliable this is not. That said, if you don’t want to listen to the full thing, this will give you a fine sense for what was discussed, and/or you can skip to a part that you want to hear more of. No, I can’t make my transcription program easily give me timestamps, sorry; I know that would help with this. Enjoy.
Speaker 4
William McAlmory from Finnish newspaper Reldi, I have a question for Federico. Uh congratulations on the medal. Uh there was a crash after the Finnish line with uh Joni Maki. What happened?
Speaker 6 [Pellegrino]
I was already down without energies and somebody came to me, but I think it’s normal enough after a finish line. I only had a have a problem on my arm since uh the skiathlon, and uh this was one more uh one more something that will let my arm hurt more in the in the next hours, but That’s it.
Speaker 4
You were hurt on the same place again?
Speaker 6
Yes. And before this, Mass Grave in the exchange zone exactly in the same point where I have the problem. So I will have to live with some pain in the next hours.
Speaker 4
You worried about the arm or not?
Speaker 6
Yes, for the fifty K, yes. But we will see.
Speaker 7
And the Schrom NRK, question for Johannes. You’re now the second most winning Olympian, summer and winter. And I looked at your Instagram story yesterday, and Emil asked you Do you think about it or don’t you really care? And you said that you both do and you don’t at the same time. Can you elaborate that a little bit?
Speaker 5 [Klæbo]
I mean, I think it feels like right now you’re in kind of this bubble where you’re always aiming for the next one and you really want to achieve uh something on the next one. So I kind of don’t let myself think too much about it, and uh I’m just trying to to really focus on the next one. And I think on Saturday, everything will start sinking in. And if yes, I remember how the last the last week or the week after the World Champs was last year. I felt completely empty. So I think something like that is going to happen this time as well, even though even if I succeed or not in the fifty case. So I’m just trying to push that kind of thoughts a little bit and wait until we’re done with the fifty K.
Speaker 8
Yes, Michael from V G Norway. Can you try to explain how much of a difference it is for you financially this year compared to last season, we were in Biathlon.
Speaker 2 [Einar Hedegart]
It’s a huge difference. Definitely it It combs quite a lot of money in the bank account, but I don’t use any more money than the years before, so I don’t really feel it. But I look at the numbers and they are pretty.
Speaker 9
Thank you, Nat Herz, freelance from Alaska. For Ben and Gus, and sorry to rehash some of this, but there are some annoying rules for the audio from this Is usable and not so much from the mixed zone. And wondering if you guys can just talk a little bit about like what it feels like to not necessarily be winning this medal individually, but together and specifically together. With the two of you guys who have kind of known each other and competing together for so long?
Speaker 10 [Ben]
Good question. I’ll start. I’ll just say that like this morning I’ve probably never been as nervous for a race as I was this morning. That includes the sprint individual ten times because It’s so like we’ve acknowledged, we’ve learned over the years with Junior Worlds podiums and relay podiums and everything that it’s just insanely fun to do it with your best buddy. And today we got to, and Gus and I have been racing against each other for so, so long and you know, like back in the junior nationals days and stuff, we’d go back and forth. Gus would win some, I’d win some, and our our other teammates would win the the others. And Yes, it’s just so incredible to get to do it and accomplish something like this with a teammate. And today’s memories are something that I’ll never forget, for sure.
Speaker 11 [Gus]
Yeah, same thing. And it’s you know, it’s nice to have success, but it’s really nice to share it with people. And you can always kind of share it with people even when it’s individual, because you train together and you’re here together, and it’s a whole Yeah, the things people do around you matter for you, but to actually be in a race together, relays, team sprints, and everything, it’s you can trust your teammate. And like going into it and really like trusting your teammate And trusting all four of your teammates when it’s a full relay is really fun, especially when it works out for everyone.
Speaker 12
Patrick Brenning, Afterlork Sweden, a question for Johannes. It feels like history repeats itself from Trondheim last year. I would like to ask you to compare this event to Trondheim, if you think about the audience, the medal ceremonies and everything.
Speaker 5 [Klæbo]
Yeah, I think it’s a it’s kind of a big difference. I felt like uh Trondheim was an amazing time and you know it was so many spectators and We had this amazing metal ceremony in the evening where it was like thirty thousand people in a city, and it was crazy. I think this one is a little bit different. It you know, the Olympics is way bigger internationally. We can finally understand that the US guys are following the Olympics. It’s kind of It’s a big difference when I think for my dad as well when instead of getting texts, messages from the local newspaper in in in Trondheim. It’s now from NBC. I mean, it’s it’s kind of a big difference.
And uh but um I like this part as well, and I think I’ve done three Olympics now. I feel like doing this one now in a place where we are used to the conditions, we are used to the stadium and everything, it it’s a little bit easier and it’s also easier for friends and family to travel down here and to see. So I mean, they are special on different places, I would say, and both of them has suited me well so far, and it’s just one more race now, and I will see.
Speaker 13
Hey guys, Gavin Kentch, Nordic Insights. Sorry, I’ve been crying today. I feel like most people are proud of where they’re from because they should be. I also feel like Vermont and Alaska, if you had to rank, like people from those states are really, really proud of being from those states, as they should be. Can both of you talk about the importance of place to you and what this means to your home communities?
Speaker 11 [Gus]
I guess I can start. Yeah, I mean, the places where you’re from, the communities, and the land, and everything kind of make you who you are in a way. Yeah, for Ben and I, who’ve really stayed put where we grew up, that just like gets more and more powerful every year. And seeing yeah, when you’re home, you see all the people that you’ve seen for a long time, and yeah, it just like develops that sense of community even more.
Speaker 10 [Ben]
Yeah, for sure. Same with me. I mean, being from Vermont, I’m so proud, and there are so many that are so proud Vermonters. You know, I’ll never forget when I was eighteen years old and decided to go to the University of Vermont and ski there. Like, there was there was grown men who were just like beside themselves with how excited they were that I was gonna go to UVM and it wasn’t even about like racing and winning races or anything like that. It was just the fact that like I grew up in Vermont and I went to uh you know, college in Vermont, and I’ll live in Vermont for the rest of my life. And it’s incredible to get to bring home some hardware to all the people who have believed in me. And yeah, I know they’re fired up. So good question. Thanks.
Speaker 7
If possible, I have two questions for Mr Hedegart. First, I understand At least Ayril Monson, your trainer, the national team trainer, is claiming that you’re not going home. You’re staying here to start learning classic skiing. I don’t know if that’s true. At the same time, our expert commentator, Pål Golberg, says that you shouldn’t waste your energy in learning classic. You should just focus on being extremely good in skating what you do. What’s your plan for that going forward?
Speaker 2 [Hedegart]
Well, both of those options are good ones. And what I can say at this point, I don’t want to raise that few races next year. I want to be at least a sprinter as well. And so it’s yes, this year I only raced four World Cups prior to the Olympics. So that is nothing something I want to change for the future. But the question is how good can I get in classic in one year? So I don’t know to be honest, but I have to check the opportunities. And if I see that it’s possible to get on get on a World Cup level in one year, I definitely want to try that.
Speaker 7
But is it true that you’re staying here to work on it with De Monson?
Speaker 2 [Hedegart]
Yes, we’re gonna have a little session and but I’m definitely not competing in the fifty K. That is something I have said that I wanna don’t want to do that.
Speaker 7
Second question. I read about it before and I heard again in a podcast now in this talk about you getting a Danish passport and competing for Denmark. Is that just something silly? Or is it something that you have been considering? And is it even possible?
Speaker 2 [Hedegart]
No, that is not silly. I actually checked that out two years ago and this This April and May, I also checked it out quite seriously and contacted the Ambassador and Yes, it’s some issues legally. They are quite tough to get a passport in Denmark. So We’ll see. The now the debate is on and maybe someone can some good lawyers from Denmark will hit me up. But I’m quite happy with the Norway at this point, to be honest. And I don’t I have to say that I don’t think I would uh stand here with any medals if I was competing for Denmark. The skis we had today, for example, was just insanely good, and Denmark don’t have the have the same uh people around me. So why? Why I want to wanted to change? No, because uh it’s hard to get to the championships from uh for Norway and uh If I was Danish, I could just participate in every competition I wanted. And of course, then my thoughts was going more to Bioplon. where it actually is a system already for Denmark. And I am fifty percent Danish, so I thought it was a possibility. But yes, as I said, I’m quite happy with the being Norwegian at this point, even though you get in the shadow of Klabo.
Speaker 12
We all are.
Speaker 14
Speaker 5 [Klæbo]
I think so. I will continue to do what I’ve done the last ten years. I mean But it’s really been a pleasure to be able to race against Federico for so many years, and we have had so many cool and tight fights, I guess, over the years. And I mean, it’s an amazing career he had had. So I feel really, like I said, really privileged that I’ve been able to raise against him for so many years.
Speaker 12
Thank you, Christopher Einar. If we could get you a Swedish passport, would you be interested?
Speaker 2 [Hedegart]
Well, I I can tell you that my teammate back home, he is half Swedish, so if you can uh manage that for him, uh he will be interested. But uh for me it’s uh that just don’t make any sense since I am zero percent Swedish, but uh I am actually fifty percent Danish, so it has to be something uh like fundamental for me to change. And uh, you know, I’m not uh I’m not going to change to any other country than possibly Denmark, but I don’t think it will happen either.
Speaker 9
Nat: Thank you. A couple of quick questions for Johannes. First, did you notice Gus maybe creeping up or challenging you a little bit in that last lap? And what was the feeling? (Gus: Be nice.)
Speaker 5 [Klæbo]
I’ll be nice. I was just completely exhausted.
I felt um I think um I just I tried to be a little bit smart in the start. I I heard after like the first few hundred meters that Gus was on my like behind me and there was only the two of us and then I for sure tried to push hard on the the last uphill and also tried to be not too aggressive. So if he was following me on the to the top, I still had some power left at the end. That was kind of what I what I thought and what I tried to do. And yeah, I haven’t seen the race, I haven’t seen how close and how things were looking, but it was a cool fight and it’s always always fun to have these ones. And I guess it’s always happened in Team Sprint because it’s short and everyone is in good shape.
Speaker 9
My my other question quickly was, um I I’ve interviewed the um kind of uh ski ski testers, like the really specificized moths and uh Paul. And I’m curious, would you agree that those guys are probably skiing more than you at this championships? Like way more.
Speaker 5 [Klæbo]
Like I saw the first couple of days they had like seventy K. Uh so that’s probably just that one day is close to what I’ve done the whole week. So I think they are skiing way more. And I mean, it’s an important job. It’s not only the Norwegian guys, it’s all the backsters and all the staff that are helping us. They are They’re amazing and they are doing an amazing job to help us have the best possible skis. And none of us would be able to sit here if it wasn’t for them.
Speaker 8
Yes, I have two really quick questions. I don’t think you saw that, but when you explained the reasons why you maybe wanted the change to the Danish side, Krabu did the money sign. Do you see that? And is he right to see that?
Speaker 2 [Hedegart]
I think Lucas Brotten is earning a lot of money, but for my part it’s nothing that is definitely not why I was considering. It was more to get the opportunity to compete internationally. But Yeah, you never know uh how how the sponsors are from Denmark. Uh I haven’t uh really looked at uh how much money they give, but uh but uh yeah, clubo Clabo I don’t know.
Speaker 8
You earned a lot of money this year. You’re going to ask Clabo for some investment tips? And have you treated your girlfriend with a gift or something?
Speaker 2 [Hedegart]
Well, I definitely need the investment tips because my portfolio is all red, but Yes. I also need the tips for what I can buy for my girlfriend, but I think Johannes’ budget is quite much higher than mine. So I don’t think I will go to him and ask a question about that. But Investment tips, I’m all about it.
Speaker 1
Let’s bring this back to medals. Elio, one for you. How proud are you on your two medals? And especially how proud are you that you helped the man next to you, the legend, to get two medals as well?
Speaker 15 [Elia Barp]
Yes, for me, it’s unbelievable. It’s my first Olympics and it’s at home, and I’m going home with two medals at the moment. So I’m quite happy about it. And if we help me in the last at least three to four years, we trained together the lead the last uh three years, even out of training camps, I joined him at his home. So I think I wanted to learn uh uh the most that I can from him and on the way to train, the way to racing and things like this. And uh I think uh I am I’ve made it to the to a ga a great point and uh yeah, now I just need to keep improving by myself, but I’m starting in a good point, so I’m halfway there.
Speaker 1
Federico, how proud are you of your team member?
Speaker 6 [Pellegrino]
This event was the main goal of the last four years. Until Beijing I was really focused on my performances, but then I knew that Olympic home Olympics We’re a great opportunity for the team to show to the fans, even new fans in Italy how good we can be skiing. And the goal of the last four years was to reach a medal in a team event And now we will go home with two medals in the team events. I’m really proud of this because I put a lot of energies to trying to improve the medium level of the team and of the Italian system and everything everybody can can see this in World Cup races and even in the Olympics now. So I feel like I’ve done my job and the legacy after Kicopelle in Italian cross country skiing now will show to all that some young, strong athletes Can still be really strong on skis.
Speaker 7
Question for Johannes. You talked about mileage. You’ve been competing forty nine point five kilometer now. Five events. One event remaining, fifty kilometers. what’s the shape of your mentality, your body? What are you going to do to be fit and ready to win the sixth race?
Speaker 5 [Klæbo]
That’s a good question. I think I’ll just try to get done with this press conference, and then I will head back to the head back to the hotel and uh start my start my recovery. Uh I have my physio from from the US, which is here. Uh gonna have treatment, I guess, and also um uh a lot of sleep the next couple of days to to try to be as ready as possible for for what’s ahead. So I mean, I I think it’s uh it’s gonna be fun to to race on Saturday. It’s going to be two easy days for me now, and then I’ll see where we end up.
Speaker 13
(Nordic Insights, again) Hey, this is for Gus. I’ll keep this short so Johannes can go recover. Gus, I was looking at a 2018 piece I did with you, and you said you wanted to be like the girls because they were, quote, really good. Do you feel like the American men’s team is like the girls now? And more broadly, can you talk about the relationship between the success that the women have had and that now the men are increasingly having?
Speaker 11 [Gus]
Yeah, at that time, you know, Hailey Swirbul had gotten two medals at Junior Worlds individually, so I’m sure that was on my mind. But yeah, it’s really cool to have the whole team doing really well. I think it takes some pressure off both of us in a way. Like it’s fun to Yeah, I don’t know. It’s fun to be good in your own right and also share it among both sides. Like, obviously, yeah, over the years you can see some differences, but to to try to be more similar, you know, and be a cohesive team that does similar things and like we’re different in our own ways. And I think for us a big strength is how much we’ve been together from a young age and Yeah, I think the more we can push on that for skiers across the U.S., regardless of gender, the better we’ll be long term.
Speaker 9
(Nat) Again, sort of because of these sort of rules, I’m going to sort of ask you guys to maybe repeat. Could you just take us through sort of your emotions on the last kind of hundred meters of the race and crossing the line and what that felt like?
Speaker 11 [Gus]
Yeah, I honestly didn’t have too many emotions until like 10 meters before. Like I sort of had a realization coming down the hill, but I think I good did a good job of not thinking too like results wise until I could see Ben on the other side there and knew I had had space. But yeah, I’m I’m really proud of how I just sort of skied with abandon in a way. And yeah, ’cause when I’m skiing free, I’m the best. And yeah, it was nice to Nice to do that, but then also amazing to cross that line and celebrate with Ben and then just like everyone who’s helped us along the way. Like my parents are here and the whole WAX staff and the staff in general. Coaches and everything, like, yeah, it means a lot to all of us, and it’s really fun to be able to cross that line.
Speaker 3
Very good. Thank you very much. And congratulations again. See you on Saturday. Not all of you, as far as I can understand. Thank you so much for your time. See you for Saturday on the last man competition of this Olympic Games here at Thank you so much for all of you that follow from remote or from here. See you next time here at Tesero Cross Country. Thank you. We can end our live streaming on MediaZone now.
You’re reading this on Nordic Insights, one man’s labor of love dedicated to publicizing American skiing. We started with nothing and now we’re at the Olympics. You can read more about our first three years here, and donate to the Olympics fund here. Thank you for consideration, and, especially, for reading.
