There will be no national team gatherings or group training sessions, and national team colleagues won’t get to compete against Kristine Stavås Skistad until the start of the season.

According to Langrenn.com, Kristine Stavås Skistad’s national team agreement entails that the 25-year-old has complete freedom to train as she wishes until the start of the season.

For Skistad, this means that her new national team colleagues will see little of her before the season opener at Beitostølen in November.

The national team’s program includes group training sessions once a month from May until the start of the season. But they will go on without Skistad. That’s what the sprint sensation from Konnerud, Norway, is clear about. Ever since the agreement was announced last week, she has emphasized that she will continue with the same program she has had so far, outside of the national team.

She reiterated this during last Wednesday’s Norwegian national team selection.

“I’m continuing as before, and I’m going underground now after this week and will stay there until Beitostølen. I look forward to having peace and quiet from you (the media), and then I look forward to seeing you at Beitostølen,” Skistad told VG.

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Teammate: “Hope it won’t be like this for the rest of her career”

It’s no secret that the women’s national team didn’t deliver the results expected this winter. Skistad is the only Norwegian who won World Cup races on the women’s side this winter. She did it five times. She also finished second in the sprint World Cup.

Several of the athletes on the national team would have liked to see Skistad participate in gatherings and training sessions. Tiril Udnes Weng is one of them. She believes the sprint ace has a lot to contribute, and that more camaraderie could have helped raise the level of the entire team.

“I would have learned a lot from her in training, and if I had the choice, she would do everything with us. But I respect that she’s going to do things differently now, but I hope it won’t be like this for the rest of her career,” says Udnes Weng.

National team coach Sjur Ole Svarstad says he won’t put any pressure on Skistad regarding participation in the team’s training program. But he hopes she will find it useful herself.

“In the long run, I believe there may be athletes on the team who can contribute very well to her training, especially in terms of endurance. Kristine may dream of skiing the anchor leg of a relay one day,” says Svarstad to VG.

Strong belief in her own philosophy

The reason Kristine Stavås Skistad chose to accept the national team this year after two years outside is that she gets to continue with the same program she has had. And that she can essentially remain outside the national team except for competitions.

“A dream contract,” she says, and her coach Lage Sofienlund about the agreement they have reached with the national team. Sofienlund believes the agreement Skistad has landed marks a turning point in Norwegian cross-country skiing and the role the traditional national team model plays.

“It’s a step into a new national team model. In the time we live in, you can’t avoid taking individual considerations,” says Sofienlund.

Won’t comment

The agreement with the Norwegian Ski Association means that the Association can use her in advertising, marketing, and for various sponsor activities.

But Skistad has complete freedom in the sports program. This means that Skistad runs her own program with her coach Lage Sofienlund right up to the season opener at Beitostølen.

Kristine Stavås Skistad will not comment on how she and coach Lage Sofienlund reached an agreement with the Ski Association on a national team contract for the upcoming season.

“We keep that internal,” says Skistad to VG.

Neither national team coach Sjur Ole Svarstad nor national team manager Ulf Morten Aune will comment on the process that led to Skistad joining the team.

Johannes Høsflot Klæbo is also back in the national team now. He signed with the Ski Federation on April 12. The 27-year-old will attend some gatherings on his own but plans to participate in all gatherings that do not conflict with his own plans.

Read More – Klæbo: “There’s only one thing that matters”