Who better to talk to in the break between Ramsau am Dachstein and the next event in Schonach than World Cup leader Magnus Krog from Norway? In today’s TUESDAY TALK, the yellow bib bearer tries to explain his great performances so far, reveals how to spend the extra free time after the cancellation of Klingenthal and explains why the Germans might have to wait at least another year to win in Schonach.
How was it to spend the Christmas holidays with the yellow bib? Did you take it off at some point?
Krog: It was great to travel home from Ramsau with the yellow bib in my bag! (laughs) Christmas has been good, though I have to admit have spent more time wearing my Santa Claus costume than the the yellow bib! (laughs)
With your second World Cup victory and the yellow bib, the season did probably start way better than you expected. Do you have an explanation? What is working out really well in your performance at the moment?
Krog: First of all, I have had a very good summer. I have not suffered from any injury or illness at all and my motivation has been strong. The team has been in good spirits and all the training camps in Norway went very well. In the past, it has been a challenge for me to keep up the level in the ski jumping part and at the same time keep my strong performance in the cross-country race which is pretty ironic as this is what makes a good Nordic Combined athlete. But this year I believe I have found the happy medium between the two poles.
For everybody involved in winter sports, this period without snow and the uncertainty about if and where the next World Cups will be is quite tough. How is it for you as an athlete? Is it easy to just wait what the next couple of days will bring or do you get restless, especially as the winter started with fewer competitions than usual due to the cancellations in Ruka?
Krog: After a long summer with a lot of hard training, we are all looking forward to the winter start. And it’s not always easy when Mother Nature doesn’t play along with our wishes. But we can’t do anything else than just use the ”extra time” between the competitions wisely and get some training done, so we can keep our form up during the whole season. And of course we trust FIS to do the best job possible to figure out a way for us to get enough competitions and no more cancellations.
The next World Cup stop is Schonach where it has been really tough for German athletes to win since the last German individual victory in 1987. Do you think they will have to wait at least one more year?
Krog: Of course I hope they have to wait another year! (laughs) Schonach is a special place with a lot of traditions for Nordic Combined. And after Klingenthal got cancelled, everyone is one fire and just can’t wait for the next competitions in Schonach to start. So whoever wins there needs to show a really good performance!
The first Team Event of the season is also on schedule for Schonach. After the triple podium in Ramsau, the Norwegian team must be feeling quite confident about this competition?
Krog: It’s going to be fun to do a Team Event again but Germany are the defending champions and showed a very strong team effort in Schonach last year. It’s also been some time to do adjustments for the other nations since Ramsau, so we can for sure not know who is going to show up as the winning team. But we are looking forward as much as the other nations, and at least I think we will give the other teams a good fight.
Since Trondheim took over one of the cancelled competitions from Ruka, it will be two chances to win in the city you actually live in for you. Is this on your list of goals for this winter?
Krog: Yes of course! In the last years, I have been either ill or in very bad shape during the competitions in Trondheim. And that has been very hard to handle. It’s always tough when one of the competitions you are looking forward to the most doesn’t go as you had planned. This year I’m hoping for better luck in Trondheim and, yes, I even got twice as many chances to succeed now! (laughs)
Source: fis-ski.com
