The Norwegian Ski Association’s search for a new coach for the women’s team has been intensified in the past five days. Now VG can reveal the most relevant person.
Among the names that have undergone the second round of interviews in the last short week, a very well-known national team name has emerged.
Namely, the Tor-Arne Hetland.
He has not yet been named as a current candidate as the head coach of the women’s team, but according to VG sources, the 48-year-old is convinced in the first round of interviews and was in the “final” in the battle for the job.
“The process for hiring female coaches is underway, after which I have no comment,” cross-country coach Espen Biervig writes in a text message to VG on Monday morning. In a short time, one of the candidates will be offered the job.
For his part, Hetland was not available for comment.
Four strong candidates
In addition, Hans Kristian Stadheim, Sjur Ole Svarstad and Stig Rune Kveen were among those who participated recently, according to VG Information.
– These are the four strong candidates. It exudes international experience from Svarstad, Stadheim and Hetland. Kevin has experience as a coach for Peter Northug, NRK expert Torgeir Bjørn tells VG.
I had to give up after being dissatisfied
The search for new women’s coaches began earlier this spring After Ole Morten Iversen and Ola Vigen Hattestad chose to surrender.
Hetland is now among the coaches’ names that are particularly relevant. Especially after the way he and the Norwegian Ski Association separated the teams at the last crossroads.
As an active skater, he holds individual gold at both the World Cup and the Olympics. Since his retirement, he has coached Germany, Switzerland and Canada.
And in 2016, he landed a dream job as an all-around coach for Norwegian men who, among other things, took home a very strong Olympic medal in PyeongChang 2018.
But the task in Norway came to a harsh and difficult end. After only a few months of games in South Korea it can VG revealed that Hetland was on his way out of a coaching job As a result, among other things, poor communication and leadership style, something he suffers from He admitted that it came as a surprise to himself.
He was an expert during the Olympics
Since then, Hetland has been associated with Meråker High School, where he led a small portion of China’s cross-country effort in connection with the Olympic Games in Beijing last winter.
This commitment ended in 2020. Since then, he has worked for the Student Association.
However, this winter, he returned to a role around cross-country skiing, and then as a Discovery Expert during the Beijing Olympics.
Three other names who participated in the final round of the battle for the job are Hans Christian Stadheim, Stig Ron Kevin and Sjor Ole Svarstad.
The latter was an assistant coach during the golden period of Norwegian women’s cross-country skiing and thus has extensive experience driving and coaching them until his resignation in the spring of 2018. Since then, he has worked at Stryn High School.
sickening project
Stadheim was the coach for both Simen Hegstad Krüger and Hans Christer Holund at Lyn Ski for a number of years.
But he has international experience in training from leading the UK commitment alongside Jostein Vinjerui. He didn’t want to say much about his potential candidacy. to VG Stadheim said this previously:
– It’s a very exciting job. It is a real challenge. Naturally, many people find this exciting. Obviously if you love being a full-time coach and love cross-country skiing, this job is great. It’s a very exciting project, says Stadheim.
Former Northogue coach
Stig Rune Kveen is best known as Peter Northug’s coach from 2014-2017. He took part of the credit for waking up the former skateboarding king after drunk driving in the spring of 2014 and taking home four gold medals during the World Cup in Fallon in 2015.
After Northug joined the national team again in 2017, Kveen was a coach and teacher at Trøndelag at Meråker High School.
The three candidates did not want or had the opportunity to comment on VG’s information.
In addition to the position of the head coach, an assistant position for the women’s team was also announced. This must be filled out shortly after the appointment of the Technical Director.
As VG has been informed, some of the candidates in the final round said they are ready to take on an assistant job.
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