Therese Johaug (35) was absolutely superb in the NM three-mile in Lillehammer last Saturday. The nearest competitor finished two minutes and 49 seconds behind.
It was Sophia Laukli. The 23-year-old lives in Oslo, represents Kjelsås IL and the Norwegian team Team Aker Dæhlie, and is a Norwegian citizen.
But Sophia Laukli is also an American citizen, raised in Maine and represents the United States internationally.
That is why it was Magni Smedås who took silver in the Norwegian championship, while Astrid Øyre Slind – who came fourth in the race – got the bronze medal.
TWO PASSPORTS: Sophia Laukli has an American mother, a Norwegian father, grew up in Maine and lives in Oslo.
Photo: NRK
The NM regulations state: “For runners with more than one national citizenship, the nation in which they have permanent residence is the correct nation. When changing citizenship, a waiting period of 12 months applies.”
– As we have no way of checking where the athletes have a permanent place of residence, we rely on a FIS licence. If you have competed nationally or internationally for another nation in the past year, you cannot win a medal in the National Championships, says Erik Huseby, who is responsible for cross-country skiing in the Norwegian Ski Association.
– Deserves it more
Huseby points out that this is part of the Norwegian Ski Association’s joint regulations and is practiced equally in all branches.
What happened has nevertheless become a major topic of conversation in the cross-country environment and not least among those involved. Astrid Øyre Slind was quick on Instagram and wrote that Laukli could get her medal.
– It was because she did a much better race than me, so I felt that she deserved it more than I did, says Slind to NRK.
GOING FOR THE USA: This is what Sophia Laukli looks like when she competes in the World Cup.
Photo: GINTARE KARPAVICI / GEPA PICTURES
And elaborates:
– My thought was that she has a Norwegian passport and goes to the NM for a Norwegian club, and is a fantastic representative and is an athlete that maybe it would have been a bit cool for Norway to embrace a bit.
Laukli says that she was unsure whether she could win a medal when she set out in the NM three-mile race. During the first part of the National Championships earlier this winter, she was told that she could not win a medal.
– But then no one knew that I had a Norwegian passport, says Laukli, who experienced a bit of chaos when it became known before the start of Lillehammer that she was actually a Norwegian citizen.
NEW PODIUM: When the medals were handed out after the NM three-mile, Magni Smedås had climbed up on step two and made way for Astrid Øyre Slind on the bottom step.
Photo: Geir Olsen / NTB
Don’t want Slind’s medal
– Before I started it was “maybe you can get it and maybe not”. Sand I got to the finish line, and then they said “you won’t get it”. “Okay, fun!”, says Laukli on a video link from Corsica, while shrugging her shoulders and smiling ironically.
Laukli will not accept Slind’s medal anyway.
– It’s a bit funny, because she is the one – of all – who deserves NM gold the most. I was number two, but she is the one who has been most “screwed over”, with what happened at Beitostølen, because then she was supposed to win and got nothing, she says in Norwegian, interspersed with some American expressions.
She refers to the skiathlon competition in the NM, which was eventually cancelled. There, Slind clearly led midway through the race when she and most of the others in the field went wrong due to an organizer error.
In that race, Slind and Laukli finished second and third.
Even if Laukli feels a little cheated, and even if Slind feels that bronze for fourth place feels like a slightly undeserved consolation prize, both have a certain understanding of the regulations.
– I sI’m arguing that you can’t go to the WC for two nations either, so it will be somewhat in the same league. You choose whether you are American or Norwegian. But I think it would have been a bit cool if she had won silver, says Slind.
– I’ve said that I feel mostly American, so then I can’t “pick and choose” when I want to be Norwegian and when I want to be American, still with my usual language mix.
Respects different views
The leader of the cross-country committee, Torbjørn Skogstad, refers to Erik Huseby’s account of the interpretation of the rules.
“I have no further additions. Any changes to NSF’s regulations are made by the Ski Board,” he writes in a message to NRK.
The general secretary of the Skiing Association, Arne Baumann, comments on the matter as follows:
“The Ski Association complies with the current regulations. In this case, it is about an athlete who represents the United States internationally,” he begins, and continues:
“We respect that athletes may have different views on this issue. If the athletes want to change the rules around NM medals, they must bring this before the branch committees. The committees can then submit any changes to the ski board.”
PS. Sophia Laukli can become Norwegian champion and get a medal in the relay or team sprint. Foreign athletes without a Norwegian passport can also, as long as they are members of a Norwegian club.
Tags: bronze fourth place National Championships Slind give medal Laukli NRK Sport Sports news results broadcasting schedule
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