The 32-year-old, who has been a cornerstone in Petter Northug’s Pro Team, has become a father for the first time.

This week, Joar Thele and his partner Vilde Sandsdalen welcomed their first child. The couple announced the news on social media.

“On September 1, we finally got to meet our little Vetle,” Thele and Sandsdalen wrote.

Thele, 32, from Flekkefjord, Norway, who left Aukland brothers’ Pro Team in 2023, is now entering his third season with Petter Northug’s squad. Since joining, he has been the team’s most consistent skier.

Northug has significantly ramped up his long-distance project this year, strengthening his Ski Classics squad, Team Burger King Northug, considerably ahead of the coming season.

Baby boom in the ski community

Joar Thele is one of many skiers who have become parents this year.

Skier Mikael Gunnulfsen, who retired from World Cup racing this year and signed with the Aukland brothers’ Ski Classics team, became a father for the first time in May. He and his wife welcomed their son Torolv on May 17, Norway’s Constitution Day.

Swedish national team veteran Jens Burman and Emilia Svensson became parents for the first time in July. The same month, Therese Johaug revealed that she and her husband, Nils Jakob Hoff, are expecting their second child early next year.

Italy’s superstar Federico Pellegrino and his wife Greta Laurent welcomed their second child in April. In August, Charlotte Kalla announced that she and her partner had also become parents for the second time. And at the end of August, the former German biathlon star Denise Herrmann-Wick and her husband, Thomas Wick, became parents for the second time.

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