The cross-country skier impressed everyone during the 50km race in Holmenkollen last winter. But for the youngster from Norway, fourth place was a turning point.

The 23-year-old from Norway dominated the 50km race in Holmenkollen from start to finish. The result was fourth place and a few seconds off the podium after having been in third place all the way to the finish. Only the 50km kings Simen Hegstad Krüger, Hans Christer Holund, and Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget were ahead. Iver Tildheim Andersen became the day’s talk and was compared to Petter Northug.

Also Read: Iver Tildheim Andersen wins at the World Cup in Lillehammer

Won’t happen again

For his part, Tildheim Andersen says that this is the most disappointing fourth place of his career. 

“I’m still trying to figure out what went wrong there. It wasn’t a victory with fourth place. But I totally missed out on nutrition,” says Tildheim Andersen to Langrenn.com.

The experience in Holmenkollen was a turning point for the junior national team skier. 

“I want it to be the physicality and capacity that matters, not that I’m limited by the fact that I’m out of nutrition,” says Tildheim Andersen, and continues: 

“I should have had a lot more replenishment along the way. I haven’t thought about such things before.”

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Tildheim Andersen now realizes that nutritional intake is something that needs to be both planned and trained and is taking a more systematic approach. 

“It used to be more like stopping at the store and buying chocolate and buns. Now I’ve become more aware of how many grams of carbohydrate I should consume per hour and that it should be spread out evenly rather than all at once,” he says.

“It’s not that I’ve had problems getting through the sessions before. You notice it a bit at the end of a five-hour long session, but that’s quite natural.” 

Nevertheless, he feels that nutritional intake is of great importance. Tildheim Andersen is already seeing results from the initiative on the nutritional front and not just on the long sessions. 

“I’m noticing it in my overall training routine. I recover better and have a slightly shorter recovery time by paying a little more attention to nutritional intake. And I have fewer sessions where I feel heavy,” he says. 

Have you completely given up buns and chocolate ice cream? 

“Now I use more gels and bars and make sure I get them in regularly. But sports nutrition is quite expensive, so you have to think about it and look for alternatives,” says Tildheim Andersen, and adds: 

“But gel is really good because it’s so easy to ingest. Bars are often a bit hard, so you must try them out. But at least I won’t be limited by nutritional intake when it comes to it again.”

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All in for the World Cup 50km race 

Tildheim Andersen is now in his fourth season on the national recruit team and his first outside the U23 category. With no major international championships, his primary goal is to complete as many World Cup races as possible and gather experience towards the 2025 World Championships. 

But there is one race that the Norwegian skier is particularly looking forward to the 50km race during the National Championships part two. 

“It’s skating, and it’s the only 50km race we’re doing in skating this season so that it will be a little dress rehearsal for the World Championships in Trondheim. There are a lot of races to go after that before they select the World Cup squad, but I’m guessing there are a lot of people who want to show off already at the Norwegian Championships this year.”