The Norwegian Olympic hopeful is struggling. Nothing is working. His body is sending the wrong signals, and the answers he is waiting for are not coming.

Last season’s Norwegian breakthrough athlete has not received the answers he was hoping for this season. He does not like the signals he is getting from his body, and so far, the Tour de Ski has been a disappointment.

Andreas Fjorden Ree finished 80th in the sprint in Toblach on Sunday, the opening event of the Tour de Ski. On Monday, he placed 26th in the 10-kilometer race.

In Wednesday’s much-criticized event, the 5-kilometer mass start in heats, he finished ninth. There, he was 7.2 seconds behind Gus Schumacher, the American who won the race ahead of Norwegian first-year senior Lars Heggen. This Thursday, he finished 17th at the 20km pursuit in classic technique, 1:58.4 behind the winner, Johannes Høsflot Klæbo.

Fjorden Ree is now in 17th place overall with just two stages remaining at the Tour de Ski 2025/2026.

The 25-year-old from Støren is disappointed, uncertain and worried.

“I’m disappointed. And worried. If the feeling is just as bad on Wednesday, there’s not much point in being here,” Fjorden Ree tells Adresseavisen.

Giving everything to save the Olympic dream

For Fjorden Ree, it is now about salvaging what remains of his Olympic dream.

“It may sound a bit cynical. But there’s very little time between the Tour and the Norwegian Championships (January 14). And I have to ski fast at the Championships if this season is going to ‘amount to anything,’” he says to Adresseavisen.

The next Olympic selection will come after the Tour de Ski. However, the Norwegian Ski Association has opened the possibility that “in special cases, a final addition to an Olympic team may be made after the Norwegian Championships.”

After Monday’s classic race, Fjorden Ree said he considers his chances of making the team to be marginal and believes he needs help from higher powers to make it to the Olympics.

“I was so far behind that a miracle would have to happen now. And it won’t,” he tells VG.

Fierce battle for three spots

Ahead of the Tour de Ski, five men were given the green light for the Olympics: Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, Einar Hedegart, Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget, Harald Østberg Amundsen, and Erik Valnes. Norway has at least seven, and possibly eight, spots for the 2026 Olympics. And at least as many candidates are fighting for the remaining two or three places.

Also Read: Eight Norwegian cross-country skiers confirmed for the Winter Olympics 2026

But even though Fjorden Ree has delivered several solid results this season, including podium finishes in Olympic events both at Beitostølen and in the World Cup, others have performed better. Among them is the aforementioned Heggen.

The 20-year-old from Harestua now has two World Cup podiums, a fourth-place finish, and an eighth-place finish. He also masters both techniques and sprint and distance, factors that weigh heavily in Olympic selection, where Norway has fewer spots than ever before.

In addition, it will be hard to overlook Mattis Stenshagen, who won Monday’s 10-kilometer race in the Tour de Ski, and this season’s comeback sensation Emil Iversen. Moreover, sprint specialist Oskar Opstad Vike has been on the World Cup podium three times so far this season.

Fjorden Ree, however, is currently in a stronger position than far more experienced and decorated national team colleagues. Championship specialist Simen Hegstad Krüger, who has four Olympic medals and seven World Championship medals, is, for now, far from any Olympic discussion.

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