The Norwegian cross-country skiing star Simen Hegstad Krüger gets his favorite track named after him.

Per Nymoen and Sindre Langaas are the enthusiasts behind the project to name Simen Hegstad Krüger’s favorite track, in close cooperation with Hegstad Krüger’s club Lyn Ski. It turned out to be more complicated than they first thought.

“It was in connection with the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, where Simen Hegstad Krüger took the heroic Olympic gold in the 30-kilometer event, that Simen revealed his favorite track in Nordmarka. What was then a fairly fresh track, the ski trail from Skjærsjødammen to Fortjern and further to Kikut,” says Langaas to Langrenn.com.

In 2023, five years after the Olympic gold in South Korea and nine more championship medals later, Langaas and Nymoen suggested to the Ski Association that they should name this track after him. The Ski Association prepares the trails in Nordmarka, including Hegstad Krüger’s favorite course.

“The Ski Association responded that they do not have rules to name tracks after living or deceased people. In short, they said no,” says Langaas.

In January this year, the enthusiasts contacted Oslo Lysverker AS about the possibility of hanging a sign with the text Hegstad Krüger Track on one of their buildings at Skjærsjødammen.

“This got the thumbs up,” says Langaas.

This sign was formally unveiled on Tuesday, February 27, after the Norwegian Championships part 1 and before the last period of the World Cup starts in Lahti.

Enormous career 

The Olympic gold in South Korea was Hegstad Krüger’s major international breakthrough. So far in his career, he has won four Olympic and six World Championship medals, five gold, three silver, two bronze, and 12 national championship medals, all at the elite level. This makes Simen Hegstad Krüger Oslo’s most-winning cross-country skier of all time. And his career is not over yet, points out Langaas.

The enthusiasts highlight that Simen Hegstad Krüger grew up in Nordre Aker, at the edge of Nordmarka, and has been a member of Lyn Ski throughout his ski career.

“We think he deserves a visible marking in his training paradise, where the Ski Association and Oslo Municipality, through the Environmental Agency, ensure the world’s best network of trails. What could be more natural than a simple sign that marks the trail with his name?”

Later this year, Petter Northug will also be put on a pedestal: The statue of the ski star will be unveiled on July 13.