Urgent meeting at the Norwegian Ski Association on Wednesday morning: must cut athletes in the national cross-country teams for both women and men next season.

The Norwegian national team management has recently indicated several times that the national teams will have tricky finances in the future. On Wednesday, they called the athletes to an emergency meeting: the national teams will cut four skiers next season: from 24 to 20. 

For the 2022/23 season, the men’s elite national team consisted of 13 skiers, divided between six athletes on the distance national team and seven on the national sprint team. It should go down to 10. 

The women’s elite national team consisted of 11 athletes. They also must cut down to ten skiers for the coming season. 

None of the athletes on these teams have received any notice of withdrawal for next season. 

Initially, the national team did not want to cut the number of skiers. Cross-country manager Espen Bjervig has not commented on the size of the national teams to VG. However, he has informed about other concrete reductions that the national team will make next season: 

• Cut doctors at gatherings 
• Cuts in physiotherapy at gatherings
• Cut in marketing activities
• Smaller support equipment on travels
• Fewer camp days in the summer season
• Not all the national team skiers travel to the traditional national team gathering at Sognefjellet in June
• Less flexibility around different departure and return days for gatherings; the skiers must initially travel together
• When recruit national team coach Monika Kørra goes on maternity leave, her full-time position will not be replaced by a coach 100 percent

However, Bjervig clarifies that the cuts do not affect support equipment for skiing during the season. There will also not be a cut in the number of skiers for the World Cup, says Bjervig to VG.

Before the weekend, it became clear that one of the biggest Norway Ski Association sponsors chose to end its cooperation with the national cross-country team.

Also read: The Norwegian Ski Association Loses Multi-Million Dollar Sponsor 

Furthermore, exchange rates, inflation, and more expensive fuel, travel, and hotels contribute to the fact that the national cross-country teams now have to save and become more efficient on all fronts.