Nordic Combined: Espen Bjoernstad’s non-selection does not go down well
On Monday, the Norwegian team was announced for the Nordic combined world championships in Trondheim (Norway) from 26 February to 9 March. The team does not include Espen Bjoernstad. The team gold medallist at the 2019 World Championships and 2022 Olympic Games will not be taking part. A real heartbreak for the man who was hoping to perform in front of his home crowd. Speaking to NRK, he expressed his displeasure.
It’s almost as if my wife had broken up with me without giving a good enough explanation,” he compares. It just hurts my whole body. I feel a real emptiness.
The experienced 31-year-old was quick to question the Norwegian management’s selection system. The Scandinavian, who has been competing mainly on the continental circuit this winter, believes that he was unable to defend his chances to the full and that he deserved his place in the team for these Worlds. “It’s not a good selection process. I would have liked the management to have been able to give our athletes a bit more security,” he added. But unfortunately, they screwed it up.
“We were simply pushed out the door”.Espen Bjoernstad at NRK
In his opinion, a number of national team riders have not had the opportunity to prepare optimally for the season’s major events: ” It hurts. I feel like I’ve earned this place, so in a way it hurts even more. We’ve simply been pushed out,” he laments.
It wasn’t long before Ivan Stuan, the team’s sporting director, had something to say on the subject of Bjoernstad. “We’re trying to avoid making a fuss. We try to have a fair process. We presented the selection criteria in September and we followed them through to the end,” he explains.
For the 2025 World Championships, the selection criteria presented by the Norwegian Ski Association before the start of the season were divided into three factors: results from the 2024/25 World Cup, medal potential and discretionary assessment. According to Ivan Stuan, the experienced Norwegian did not tick all the boxes: “Espen sometimes has good results, and then sometimes they go down. He’s inconsistent”, he concedes.
“I think it should be the same as the Olympic selection process”.Espen Bjoernstad
These are criteria that Espen Bjoernstad would like to simplify and clarify even before the start of the season: “ I think it should be in the same way as the Olympic selection process. There are performance requirements that have to be met to be ready. Right now, you either have to have two finishes in the top 12 or one in the top 6 ,” he says.
This season, the Scandinavian holds the best World Cup result between himself and Einar Luraas Oftebro, who was awarded the final selection ticket. Espen Bjoernstad has two ninth-place finishes, while Oftebro has only once finished in the top ten, in Otepää (Estonia) last Sunday.
Norway’s selection for the Nordic Combined World Championships in Trondheim 🇳🇴
Ladies
- Ida Marie Hagen 🇳🇴
- Gyda Westvold Hansen 🇳🇴
- Marte Leinan Lund 🇳🇴
- Ingrid Laate 🇳🇴
- Mari Leinan Lund 🇳🇴
Men
- Jarl Magnus Riiber 🇳🇴
- Jens Luraas Oftebro 🇳🇴
- Joergen Graabak 🇳🇴
- Andreas Skoglund 🇳🇴
- Simen Tiller 🇳🇴
- Einar Luraas Oftebro 🇳🇴
The full programme for the 2025 Nordic World Ski Championships in Trondheim 🇳🇴
Wednesday 26 February
- 13:30 – Cross-country skiing: women’s 7.5 km CT individual qualifiers
- 15:30 – Cross-country skiing: men’s 7.5 km individual CT qualifiers
- 8pm: Opening ceremony on the Place des Médailles
Thursday 27 February
- 10.00 – Cross-country skiing: men’s and women’s FT sprint qualifiers
- 12.30pm – Cross-country skiing: men’s and women’s FT sprint finals 🥇🥈🥉
- 3.00 pm – Nordic Combined: women’s 5 km FT cross-country skiing mass-start
- 6.20pm – Nordic Combined: women’s mass-start HS102 ski jumping competition 🥇🥈🥉
- 8.30pm – Ski jumping : women’s HS102 qualifications
- 8pm: medal ceremonies in the Place des Médailles
Friday 28 February
- 12.00 – Nordic Combined: HS102 ski jumping competition in the mixed team event
- 14h00 – Ski jumping : women’s HS102 individual competition 🥇🥈🥉
- 16h15 – Nordic Combined: cross-country ski pursuit 2×5 km + 2×2.5 km FT of the mixed team competition 🥇🥈🥉
- 8pm: medal ceremonies in the Place des Médailles
Saturday 1st March
- 12.00 – Nordic combined: HS102 men’s individual compact ski jumping competition
- 2.00 pm – Cross-country skiing: men’s 10 km CT + 10 km FT skiathlon 🥇🥈🥉
- 4.15pm – Nordic Combined: men’s 7.5km FT cross-country ski pursuit of the individual compact 🥇🥈🥉
- 17h15 – Ski jumping : women’s HS102 team competition 🥇🥈🥉
- 8.30pm – Ski jumping : men’s HS102 qualifications
- 8pm: medal ceremonies in the Place des Médailles
Sunday 2 March
- 12.00 – Nordic combined: women’s HS102 gundersen ski jumping competition
- 2.00 pm – Cross-country skiing: women’s 10 km CT + 10 km FT skiathlon 🥇🥈🥉
- 4.15pm – Nordic combined: women’s 5km FT cross-country ski pursuit from the gundersen 🥇🥈🥉
- 17:15 – Ski jumping : men’s HS102 individual competition 🥇🥈🥉
- 8pm: medal ceremonies in the Place des Médailles
Tuesday 4 March
- 10.00 – Para cross-country skiing: CT standing, sitting and visually impaired men’s and women’s sprint qualifications
- 13:00 – Cross-country skiing: individual 10 km CT men 🥇🥈🥉
- 15:30 – Cross-country skiing: individual women’s 10 km CT 🥇🥈🥉
- 8pm: medal ceremonies in the Place des Médailles
Wednesday 5 March
- 8.45am – Para cross-country skiing: men’s and women’s standing, sitting and visually impaired CT sprint semi-finals
- 11:00 – Cross-country skiing: men’s and women’s CT team sprint qualifiers
- 12.20pm – Para cross-country skiing: men’s and women’s standing, sitting and visually impaired TC sprint finals 🥇🥈🥉
- 2.30pm – Cross-country skiing: men’s and women’s CT team sprint finals 🥇🥈🥉
- 16:15 – Ski jumping : HS138 mixed team competition 🥇🥈🥉
- 8pm: medal ceremonies in the Place des Médailles
Thursday 6 March
- 11.30 am – Nordic Combined: HS138 ski jumping competition in the men’s team event
- 13:00 – Cross-country skiing: men’s 4×7.5 km CT/FT relay 🥇🥈🥉
- 3.50pm – Nordic Combined: 4x5km FT cross-country ski pursuit from the men’s team competition 🥇🥈🥉
- 17:00 – Ski jumping : men’s HS138 individual competition 🥇🥈🥉
- 8.30pm – Ski jumping : women’s HS138 qualifications
- 8pm: medal ceremonies in the Place des Médailles
Friday 7 March
- 14:00 – Ski jumping : men’s HS138 qualifications
- 3.15pm – Cross-country skiing: women’s 4×7.5km CT/FT relay 🥇🥈🥉
- 17h15 – Ski jumping : women’s HS138 individual competition 🥇🥈🥉
- 8pm: medal ceremonies in the Place des Médailles
Saturday 8 March
- 9.30 am – Nordic Combined: HS138 men’s ski jumping competition on the gundersen
- 11.30am – Cross-country skiing: men’s 50km FT mass-start 🥇🥈🥉
- 2.30pm – Nordic Combined: men’s 10km FT cross-country ski pursuit from the gundersen 🥇🥈🥉
- 16:00 – Ski jumping : men’s HS138 individual competition 🥇🥈🥉
- 8pm: medal ceremonies in the Place des Médailles
Sunday 9 March
- 11.30am – Cross-country skiing: women’s 50km FT mass-start 🥇🥈🥉
- 2.30pm: medal ceremony and closing ceremony at Granåsen
Read also
- Nordic Combined | Oberwiesenthal: the first ever mixed team sprint for Norway’s Espen Bjoernstad and Gyda Westvold Hansen
- Nordic Combined | Continental Cup in Klingenthal: Mattéo Baud superb second in the gundersen, Laurent Muhlethaler just off the podium
- Nordic skiing | Trondheim: an environmental challenge for the 2025 world championships
- Nordic skiing: over 100,000 tickets already sold for the 2025 world championships in Trondheim
- Cross-country skiing | Trondheim: an environmental movement threatens to disrupt the 50-kilometre World Championship race
- Nordic skiing: the full programme for the 2025 World Cross-Country Skiing, Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined Championships in Trondheim
- Cross-country skiing: the French selection for the Trondheim Worlds
- Nordic Combined: Johannes Lamparter and Claudia Purker lead Austria at the Trondheim Worlds
