– It has been difficult for them to admit – NRK Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule

– Basically, the attitudes and structure of that committee have changed in such a way that I feel I can be part of it and contribute. Now I am very positive about what is to come, says Aleksander Aamodt Kilde to NRK.

It hasn’t been like that in recent months. Earlier this winter, Kilde came with a solid salvo of force in the direction of the management of the association.

– It is a top-down attitude where they think that athletes come and go. In the end, maybe no one comes because there is so much arrogance that people can’t bear to have anything to do with them, said Kilde to NRK.

So what has changed?

– Difficult for them to admit

There are several things that have caused Kilde to change his mind, but the most important thing is that he now sees that the Ski Association is changing.

– It has been difficult for them to admit earlier that they have been a bit out of control. Now they have expressed that they see the athletes’ side and that they want to find a solution. It has given me hope that this is something that can build on trust and it is a step in the right direction for my trust in them, says Kilde.

– When you say “them”, is that the management of the Ski Association?

– Yes, those I have been in dialogue with.

– And who is that?

– It has been Arne Baumann in the first place, who has put together this committee. So we’ll see what happens from now on.

– Dit seems that they are aware that it must be done now, and that they are willing to do it. So the attitude they have towards the whole process has changed in one way or another, Kilde believes.

NRK has contacted Arne Baumann on Wednesday evening. Communications manager at the Ski Association, Espen Graff, writes in an SMS that they do not wish to comment on the matter.

Thinks selection change was important

When Kilde chose to decline the selection in the first place, he had just fallen and injured himself badly. But he is also critical of who was first invited to join.

Kilde’s lawyer, Pål Kleven, said in a statement in February that the committee was “composed of people who have dealt with this case before and are biased”.

Since then, Erik Bruun, among others, has withdrawn from the committee. Bruun was head of a national team model committee which in 2022 concluded that there was “no need to make significant changes to the national team model as it is practiced today”.

– Then it was finally that I saw who was involved, and knew the story of what those who were involved thought about the whole process we have fought for, that made it difficult for me to be part of it then and there. And then it changed a little. Some people have been replaced, says Kilde.

The committee has all-day meetings this week. Baumann himself is happy that Kilde is now involved in the discussions.

– It is crucial for us that an athlete from alpine skiing is on the committee, and with his clear voice and strong position, I am happy that Aleksander has now agreed to contribute to this important work, says general secretary and chairman of the committee Arne Baumann.