Top World Cup jumper snapped after event: “this is f***ing hopeless”

During Sunday’s competition in Innsbruck a technical problem occurred: the elevator that transports jumpers up the hill broke down. The fault was eventually fixed, but several athletes suffered from the disruption. One of them was Norway’s Halvor Egner Granerud, who described the episode in an interview with NRK.

Granerud said he spent a long time standing in the broken elevator in his jumping boots because the organisers had lost his normal shoes. "I’m fed up with this whole place. [...] We barely managed to prepare even though we were among the first jumpers in the trial round. [...] Basically the problem is that I jump poorly and I can’t cope with this hill, but today the organisers get a clear one from me. [...] I’m wondering whether next year, if I’m not fighting for victory in the Four Hills Tournament, I might take the chance to give myself a break when the events here take place. This makes no sense. Nothing works out for me here," Granerud said, quoted by tv2.no. He was eliminated after losing his head-to-head first-round battle with Yukiya Sato.

Then Granerud completely lost his temper in a later Viaplay interview and uttered words that shocked many. "I hope they lose the right to organise events here next year. This is simply impossible. This is f***ing hopeless. [...] I wish the organisers the worst," he said (also quoted by tv2.no).

Granerud soon reflected and posted an apology on his Instagram story: "The emotions in today’s interview were too strong. I do not wish the organisers the worst. Sorry for my remark," he wrote.

The incident — and especially Granerud’s choice of words — quickly spread across media and social networks. The Norwegian athlete had earlier complained about standing in the broken elevator and about not having his normal shoes in time, which apparently affected his preparation and performance.

Sources: Przegląd Sportowy, NRK, tv2.no, Viaplay