The weather chaos shakes up the skiing world.
Sweden’s flight to the World Cup competitions in Oberhof has been canceled – forcing the stars to fly to other cities.
– There is a bit of chaos here at Arlanda, says coach Johan Granath.
Meanwhile, Norway’s national team is stranded in Oslo.
The storm that swept across northern Europe holds Sweden in a tight grip. SMHI has issued nine weather warnings for Wednesday – and several stretches of motorway have been closed during the day due to heavy snowfall and winds.
The flights have also been affected, which the Swedish and Norwegian national ski teams have felt.
On Wednesday, the skiing stars were to be flown down to Frankfurt for the weekend’s World Cup competitions in Oberhof, but it was not that simple.
Sweden’s flight was cancelled, forcing the national team stars to split into two groups to come down to Germany. A bunch have been rebooked to Munich via Copenhagen and the rest will now land in Düsseldorf instead.
– There is a bit of chaos here at Arlanda, but it will work out, says coach Johan Granath.
Among those selected for Sweden’s squad are Frida Karlsson, William Poromaa and Ebba Andersson.
– It is an experienced group that has been there before. So it won’t affect us that much. You just have to sit in the boat and take it easy. We still can’t do anything about it, says Granath.
All of Norway stuck at the airport
Things have become all the messier for the Norwegian national team. According to NTB, the Norwegian passengers are stuck at the airport in Oslo as they have chosen to close the airspace.
The Norwegians will instead fly to Germany on Thursday. Thus, they miss the official training in Oberhof.
– We lose a bit of our usual preparations, but Frankfurt is the main airport for Oberhof and Fis (the International Skiing Federation) is on the cards. They work so that we can test the tracks and do everything we need before it’s time to start, says head coach Per Elias Kalfoss to NRK .
Sprint, 20 kilometers in classic style and relay are on the program in Oberhof between Friday and Sunday.