After being turned down for the Swedish national team, the junior talent moved to Norway to train with the best in the world. Just four days in, he is certain: More Swedish talents will follow suit.

He has been among Sweden’s most promising junior skiers in recent years, with two Junior World Championships, several international top-10 finishes, and numerous national golds – most recently last winter. Nevertheless, Måns Ravald did not receive an offer from the Swedish national team ahead of his transition to the senior class.

He is the son of coach Ola Ravald, who is responsible for athletes like Linn Svahn and Edvin Anger, as well as the Swedish biathlon team, and hails from Östersund, one of Sweden’s key cross-country skiing regions.

Now, the 20-year-old is moving to Lillehammer to train daily with a strong Norwegian environment in Team Olympiaparken. Many of the athletes on the team have been competing against prominent figures like Lars Heggen and Filip Skari in junior and U23 categories for years.

Langrenn.com meets the Swedish youngster four days into his first training camp with the Norwegian team. 

Why choose Norway over Sweden? Isn’t there enough expertise at home? 

“Yes… My dad and I have had a great collaboration my whole life, and we will continue to work together. But I wanted to try something new and gain insights from a completely different environment, and I thought now was a good time to do that and move to Norway.”

It’s also not a random choice for Ravald to join a Norwegian private team. 

“I had seen several posts from Team Olympiaparken on social media and noticed that the athletes from the team are fast. So I wanted to see if there were any opportunities there. And there are no comparable development teams in Sweden,” he explains.

The athletes on Team Olympiaparken, established in the environment around NTG in 2024, have shown tremendous progress from their first to second season. 

This winter, several athletes have impressed internationally, with representation in both the Tour de Ski and the Olympics, medals in the U23 World Championships, medals in the Junior World Championships, participation in the World Championships, World Cup debuts in Drammen, and overall victories in the U23 Cup.

The story continues below.

Prefers to compete in the Norwegian Cup

Now, the goal is to qualify for the U23 World Championships in January. This means Ravald must prioritize competitions in Sweden during the first part of the season to be considered for selection. However, afterwards, he would prefer to compete in the Norwegian Cup. 

“We have to be honest. There is much greater depth in Norway, a much higher level overall. And there are many more development environments that maintain a high standard. Being part of that system allows one to become very good, and I want to take advantage of that,” says Ravald, who is the first foreign athlete on the team ever.

He already feels a difference after just a few days at the first camp with the Norwegian team.

“It seems like the entire culture is better in Norway. They do everything a bit more precisely, manage to train a bit smarter and a bit more, while still allowing for enough recovery and having fun at the same time. This makes the overall balance in the training a bit better,” says Ravald, adding:

“There are few Swedes moving to Norway right now, but I believe that will change.”

A benefit for the team

Coach Ole Conrad Burud from Team Olympiaparken has been following Måns Ravald for some time. He believes the Swedish youngster is a great talent who can go far, but that he is also a benefit for the team. 

“Måns is a very exciting skier. He is an athlete who is already at an extremely high level, is offensive and curious, and we had a very good dialogue right away. We believe he will become a valuable asset to our team,” Burud tells Langrenn.com, continuing:

“So we think it’s really cool that such talented athletes want to come here and learn from what we do. But we also find it educational to gain perspectives from other environments.” 

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