Skiing | Holmenkollen is scary, admits Johanna Matintalo: "Really big risks"

The threat of expression also worries Finnish skiers.

Oslo

Cross-country skiing the world cup weekend in Holmenkollen is overshadowed by the organizers' concern about possible demonstrations. Dagbladet reported on Tuesday that Holmenkollen is “in full alert”.

Bold precautions could already be seen on Friday, when the skiers tested their skis and got a feel for the competition slopes.

“On that run, when I looked, there were already guards and policemen in yellow vests next to me along the path. Usually there aren't that many of them. There is at least serious preparation here”, Iivo Niskanen stated after his training.

CEO of Holmenkollen Ski Festivals Stefan Marx said Thursday that organizers are expecting at least the Norwegian Committee for Palestine, which has registered a legal protest, to arrive in the area.

Two well-known climate activist groups, the Norwegian Stopp Oljeletinga and the international Extinction Rebellion, known in Finland as Elokapina, cause greater concern.

“There have been attempts to discuss with them, but the discussions have not been very constructive,” Marx said.

“

“When I read that news, I thought that I hope no one gets hurt.”

Competitors from the point of view, the threat is that the activists might try to get on the track in the middle of the competition. That happened last weekend in Vasaloppet, in December at the World Cup in Trondheim and a year earlier in Lillehammer.

“They don't affect the competition, as long as there are no crashes. In Trondheim, I didn't even see activists, although they were quite close. The organizers managed to take them away in time,” Niskanen recalls.

Johanna Matintalo points out that the other year in Lillehammer, protesters rushed onto the track on the downhill section.

“There are really big risks because we have high speeds on the downhill.”

Matintalo says he read the news about the threat to public opinion.

“When I read that news, I thought that I hope no one gets hurt. That's a pretty dangerous idea. I can't think about them myself, because there are completely other things to focus on, but yes, it's scary at the thought level,” he admits.

My own security arrangements are complicated by the huge masses of people, among whom it is easy to infiltrate. Tens of thousands of spectators are expected for the games.

“We do our best to avoid risks. Of course, we have to be careful about sentiments, but we cannot avoid all risks,” CEO Marx said.

The women ski their 50-kilometer race on Saturday, the men on a holiday. Both races start at 10:30 a.m.