– Disturbing development – NRK Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule

– Sport is colored by the masculine. The athletes must be tough, tolerate injuries. They train and compete even if they are injured.

Researcher Jan Åge Kristensenat the Norwegian Sports Academy, points to a pressure from the environment on the young players, and that they must perform sportingly despite injuries.

Kristensen has submitted a doctoral thesis in which he takes into account various psychological factors that affect young athletes. Part of the thesis is a research article about junior ice hockey players.

There he points out that many ice hockey players feel pressure to play injured, and therefore have an alarmingly high intake of painkillers.

– Athletes must perform today, tomorrow. This contributes to making them more vulnerable, Kristensen believes.

Kristensen also works as a psychological adviser and claims that many young athletes can develop unhealthy attitudes when it comes to the use of painkillers, and that the path to a stronger substance can therefore be short.

Played with a broken arm: – It hurt, but I was cool

In the work on a master’s thesis at the Institute of Pharmacy at the University of Oslo, Sofie Christensen conducted interviews with a total of 25 players from the Norwegian elite ice hockey league at the end of 2022.

There, two of the players said, among other things:

– Played with a broken arm. Really hurt, but I was cool.

– Before, you could go into the medicine room and the doors were open. A cocktail. Picking candy. Hockey candy.

The master’s thesis is based on what she refers to as the abuse of painkillers among hockey players and an uncultured use of heavy painkillers and sleeping pills to get ready for battle.

– The normalization they make of drug use and that it is necessary is not good. They explain it by saying that they run elite sports. It is understandable that they want to stretch the elastic, but seriously, says Christensen to NRK.

– Greater chance of using doping

Ice hockey is a sport where the chance of injury is high, to a large or small degree. Kristensen therefore believes that the environment should take greater responsibility for protecting young athletes and promoting good attitudes.

– The performance aspect in sport goes beyond health and respect, because it partly breaks with the basic values ​​in sport. Among them joy, community, honesty and good health, believes Kristensen.

With respect, he means sporting values ​​such as Fair Play and competition on an equal basis. He believes that many young people go beyond these values ​​to achieve their dream of becoming the best.

– Those who experience performance pressure from the environment have a greater chance of using doping, claims Kristensen.

– They go ahead and experiment with other preparations. It will be a disturbing development and a disturbing trend. They are under great influence on a daily basis, which is why they use these methods and substances, he claims.

– Much? It is difficult to say

Frisk Asker player Alexander Bonsaksen says it is stupid that young ice hockey players feel under pressure to play with an injury, but believes this is not unique to ice hockey.

– It is of course not pleasant if many people feel that they have to play injured, now I don’t think it is something specific to ice hockey, but something in general with the sport, he says to NRK.

Bonsaksen has had a long career both abroad, in Norway and for the Norwegian national team. He himself has not felt any pressure to play injured as a youngster, but says he has played games with injury.

– I am 37 years old and have played hockey all my life. Of course I have played injured, but then there has been a calculated risk in consultation with club doctors and physiotherapists where I know what can go wrong from playing, and if you know that nothing will get worse from playing, he says.

Because according to the former national team player, it’s not just about going and getting painkillers in the dressing room. He partly disagrees that the use is high. He thinks the use corresponds to the need.

– Much? It is difficult to say. It’s not lying around in the wardrobe, so you always have to visit a physio or doctor to get it written on a prescription, he says.

Bonsaksen does not believe that young people can develop unhealthy attitudes that allow them to continue experimenting with other preparations and illegal substances.

– I think that sounds very “far fetched”. To draw parallels from Paracet or Voltaren to taking doping. Then he is an applicant in his research, I would say, because I doubt that has any connection, he says.

Kristensen has been presented with the quote to Bonsaksen, but tells NRK that he does not want to answer.

– Unfortunate of course

Petter Salsten, sports director and acting general secretary of the Norwegian Ice Hockey Association, tells NRK that he and the association are aware of the problem.

– It is of course unfortunate if athletes experience pressure from the environment to take part in matches if they are injured. We don’t want that. If this also results in more frequent use of painkillers, then we may have to highlight this even more strongly, both in our education and in our dialogue with athletes and clubs, he says.

– Here it is partly culture, but perhaps also the competitive situation of each individual that plays a role in elections, so greater awareness of this may seem appropriate, says Salsten.

He believes there is a positive change among the athletes.

– We find that players increasingly have a conscious attitude and take responsibility for their own health in connection with injuries, he says.