02/20/2025
Local dairy farmer Hannah Hanson stopped by the Big Bend Supper Club this morning with a delivery of milk. She asked if there was any word on the bid we submitted for Milan to host the sliding events in the 2026 Winter Olympics. I told Hannah that there was no word, but not to give up hope. Hannah laughed politely and told me that she would never give up hope, for she knows the story of Simen Kruger.
Simen Kruger represented Norway in the 2018 Winter Olympics on the cross-country ski team. On Sunday, February 11th, 2018, Simen competed in the skiathlon. A skiathlon is a cross-country skiing race that combines both classic and freestyle skiing techniques. Skiers start with the classic technique and then switch to freestyle at the halfway point.
Despite the bitterly cold, windy weather, it was an historic day for Norway’s skiathlon team.
Norway, a dominant force in cross-country skiing, was a heavy favorite for the medal stand before Sunday’s skiathlon event at the PyeongChang Olympics. But Simen Hegstad Krüger, fresh off a World Cup win in December, saw his hopes dashed early in the race.
Or so it seemed.
Krüger fell shortly after the start of Sunday’s race and got piled up with Russia’s Denis Spitsov and Andrey Larkov. He broke his pole. He was in last place in a field of 68 competitors.
A little more than an hour later, Krüger found himself first across the finish line cheering on teammates Martin Johnsrud Sundby and Hans Christer Holund to complete a Norway sweep of the men’s skiathlon podium.
“I thought it was over,” Krüger told reporters. “They pushed hard at the start too and I was just hoping that no one would go hard at the front in the wind. I had to keep pushing and hoping that it would calm down and then, all of a sudden, I was back up with them again.
“I was completely last in the group so I had to start the race again and switch focus to catch up with the guys. When I did it, I was saying to myself, ‘okay, take one lap, two laps, three laps and just get into it again, and try to do it on the final lap.'”
After digging a 36-second hole with the fall, Krüger managed to catch up and pass the pack on the penultimate lap and take a 20 second-lead over the field. His teammates eventually closed the gap, but his time of 1 hour, 16 minutes and 20 seconds was eight seconds better than Sundby, who took silver.
“It is an indescribable feeling,” Krüger said. “It is an amazing day, but it started in the worst possible way with the fall after the first 100 metres and a broken pole.”
Here is a video of the race: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z40AiVIgQo
