Petter Northug turned up in Vantaa unexpectedly — supporting this season’s sensation Einar Hedegart

Petter Northug has been an important piece in Einar Hedegart’s rise from obscurity to Olympic contender. Northug skied the Hakunila course without grip wax.

Petter Northug showed up unexpectedly at the Skandinavia Cup in Vantaa to fill a training deficit caused by a long period of illness. Skiing the Hakunila loop without grip wax is risky play. Photo: All Over Press

By Pekka Holopainen

Published 4 Jan at 08:15

The men’s 20 km (pursuit) at the Skandinavia Cup electrified on Saturday in Vantaa’s Hakunila when one of the sport’s all-time legends, Petter Northug, turned up at the start line — completely out of the blue.

The Norwegian, who turned 40 on Epiphany this year, said he hadn’t planned long in advance to race near the Finnish capital — an example being that he flew from Oslo to Finland the same day.

“For me ‘important’ means something different now than it did in the era when I took 15 championship golds between 2007 and 2015,” said Northug.

Northug, who aims at Ski Classics races from Marcialonga to Vasaloppet, suffered much illness late in the year and spent a long time practically off training. He has also competed scarcely this season.

“I needed races, and this was a good competition at the right time.”

Pelkkää tasatyöntöä (Only double poling)

Because Northug’s main targets this season are Ski Classics double-poling races, no grip waxes were applied to his skis on Saturday. Climbing the Hakunila headland six times by pure double poling is tough fun. He handled the mandatory uphill classical sections with a diagonal-step technique.

“The head climb felt awful from start to finish every lap, but that was exactly what I needed to raise my performance. This course was just what I needed at this point.”

Einar Hedegart has gained an important sponsor, mentor and sparring partner in Petter Northug. The young man is the hottest favourite to win Olympic 10 km (free) gold in February. Photo: EPA

Sponsor, mentor, sparring partner

Alongside his own skiing and business career, Northug has taken on an interesting role this season as the glass sponsor, mentor and sparring partner for this year’s real skiing sensation, Einar Hedegart.

Northug’s hometown Mosvik is a short boat crossing from Hedegart’s home municipality Inderøy, and their first contact dates back to when Hedegart was an early teenager.

“Einar asked to borrow skis from me back then. I realised he was a special case.”

Hedegart, who has at least put his biathlon career on hold, has won all the 10 km free time-trial races in the World Cup this season. Notably, that distance is the only individual time-trial distance on the approaching Milan Olympic programme.

“Einar has made a fantastic breakthrough this season. If he stays healthy, he’s close to Olympic victory on the 10k and in the relay.”

A significant role

In practice, Northug’s role in tuning Hedegart’s Olympic form — a rider who largely coaches himself — is not insignificant.

“We have planned together how he prepares for competitions at high altitude and how he protects his health before races.”

In late December Northug also had to help his protégé in a different way. Hedegart called his mentor from Passo Lavazè in Italy utterly distraught.

Northug commented on the death of Sivert Guttorm Bakken. Everyone is in shock

He and several other Norwegian skiers and biathletes were supposed to spend Christmas there with biathlete Sivert Guttorm Bakken. The 27-year-old Norwegian was found dead in his hotel room on Christmas Eve’s eve; unconfirmed reports say an oxygen mask set up to simulate 7,000 metres of altitude was on his face.

“Einar was in total shock, and so has the whole Norwegian skiing community been. I’ve avoided all kinds of speculation since the forensic investigations are ongoing,” Northug sighed.

“On a general level I can say that I personally have never used a mask or tent in my career. When I’ve needed the benefits of high altitude, I’ve always travelled to train at altitude.”

The death of Sivert Guttorm Bakken in an Italian hotel room has been a huge shock to the Norwegian elite-sports community. Photo: Getty Images

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Northug arrived in Vantaa to try to plug a training gap after a long illness and to get some race practice for Ski Classics targets. Along the way he has become a behind-the-scenes factor in the rapid rise of Einar Hedegart, combining sponsorship, mentoring and practical sparring to help prepare Hedegart for the Milan Olympic time-trial and relay. The article also notes the traumatic death of Norwegian biathlete Sivert Guttorm Bakken, which deeply affected the Norwegian skiing community and Hedegart in particular.