Maren Lundby on SMS from Ski Head Eric Rosti:

It was boiled down in Hopp-Norge after it became known that sporting director Clas Brede Bråthen was undesirable for the job by the Ski Association’s management.

TV 2 gained insight into some of the details that ended up in this bitter personal feud. And there, among other things, an SMS sent from ski boss Eric Rosti to Marin Lundby has grabbed attention in the jumping community.

We meet Lundby after a training session in Sognsvann. There, after a while, she agreed to run for an interview.

– It’s not very comfortable for me to be standing here today, but I know Claes Brady (Brathin) has been in a number of girls’ matches, which today has led us to the Raw Air, the World Cup on the hill, and leading the best trophies and races overall. Maybe he did things he wasn’t comfortable with and that provoked other people in the system.

– But he did it for us, he did everything he could. So, Lundby says, it’s boring to lose his job because of it.

I received the SMS after playing the media

Many of the louder infighting that put Bråthen in a difficult situation today have a background in disputes over jumpers.

Therefore, Lundby agreed to comment that SMS TV 2 had been granted access.

The Ski Association wants to get rid of the jump manager – but the Stöckl and the jumping family are all about Bråthen

The SMS was sent from ski chief Eric Rosti to Marin Lundby after the opening races at Lillehammer in the 2018/19 season.

The background to the report was that Lundby had spoken out in the media after one competition in a planned trilogy at Lillehammer was cut short, so that the women in this way also lost out on a large prize money.

– LO had put some money into prizes for this trio, then I focused on it in the media. After that, I received a letter from Eric (Rusti) explaining the situation on his part. Lundby says he has a different version of what happened to my leaders.

– uncomfortable

Lundby describes it as unpleasant to receive such a letter from the most powerful man in Norwegian skiing.

– I think it is unpleasant to hear one thing from my leaders, and then receive a letter from the head of the skateboarding who says another. She sent the message to Christian Meyer (the coach of the women’s national team), and then he took it further into the system.

– But I feel like this is something I shouldn’t be a part of.

Stöckl reconsiders the future if Bråthen has to leave – meet with jumping committee on Wednesday

In an SMS to Lundby, Røste notes, among other things, that without the financial assistance from cross-country skiing, there would have been no women’s jump at Lillehammer on a World Cup-related weekend.

You feel less valuable than you wish you were. We put in as much work as everyone else, but we feel like we’ve become a marginalized sport at times. I think it is boring to hear such things.

Eric Rosti told TV 2 that he has been in contact with Lundby on several occasions:

Because I believe it is important for a practitioner in her position to receive information about internally significant processes, not least when it comes to topics such as finances and events. The intention was the best, says the ski chief and continues:

– Marin and I have common goals, and have worked with others to purposefully jump for the position of women in the sport of jumping, among other things to get the first-ever World Cup on a big hill in 2021. At the same time I have a good understanding that an outstanding athlete finds Difficulty spending time and effort on this matter constantly. It is by no means something we can ask for.

– base technology

The message caused great outrage to the management to jump. And they think it wasn’t necessary for the president. This is how the women’s national team manager Christian Mayer reacted to the letter.

– I thought it was a strange statement from the head skating at Maren and I had to check Clas Brede (Bråthen) if it was true, Meyer tells TV 2.

TV 2 knows that Bråthen responded aggressively to some of the allegations in the SMS. This helped escalate the already bad relationship he had with Røste.

“Marin Lundby and her teammates match is the core of the conflict”

The case has also had repercussions at the Norwegian Ski Association’s internal meetings and at external meetings with ski sponsor LO.

TV 2 sports commentator Mina Finstad Berg also reacts to how Erik Røste framed himself in SMS to Lundby.

I think it sounds like a naughty attempt to make Marine Lundby calm down. It is not good to feel that this is uncomfortable. These are classic dominance techniques where you end up feeling small and insignificant, and feeling vulnerable towards someone who is too powerful, says Fenstad-Berg.

Ski chief reacts to Finstad Berg’s interpretation of the message.

It’s an explanation I steer clear of. Marin and many other Norwegian athletes have an important voice in international skating. My goal has always been that committed practitioners and others should receive important information about the choices made, that matter to them, Røste tells TV 2.

I got a phone call from Røste hours before the race opened

Lundby also says that shortly before Christmas last year she encountered something that sparked reactions at the jump camp.

After all women’s races were canceled before January 20 due to Covid 19 restrictions – including in Lillehammer, a race was finally held last weekend before Christmas in Ramsau in Austria.

Prior to that, there was a lot in the media about the cancellations. Røste himself was interviewed by TV 2 about the many cancellations. The challenges faced by Lundby and his companions were relatively well known in the community.

But a few hours before qualifying in Austria, Rusty called Lindby and asked if she was at her home in Lillehammer as he wanted her on another assignment.

– That was the only race we ran before January 20th, so we felt badly treated there and after. Then he called me about a completely different matter. Hence, it is characteristic that he did not realize that we were in a place in Ramsau. Lundby says you react a little to that.

– So he calls and asks if you’re in Lillehammer and you’re in Ramsau?

– Yes, that may have happened.

– How long before the competition?

– It was on qualifying day.

– Do you think the ski boss should have realized you were about to be in the jumping tower when he called you?

– Yes, I am a little surprised that he is not better versed.

Here Røste takes self-criticism.

– This was at a time when we were working very actively to get more women’s jump races to Norway. Of course, I had to remember that female jumpers were in Ramsau at the time, but with six branches and athletes in different places, unfortunately it sometimes goes awry when it comes to the schedule.

Contribute to the turmoil

The reason Lundby wanted to tell these two stories is because she knows that these episodes helped cement the fronts in the intense personal conflict between Clas Brede Bråthen and the skating association’s management.

She asserts that Rusty has never been rude to her, and that she tolerates receiving such messages well. What you want to make clear is that these are examples of her feeling that women’s jumping has been marginalized by the top management of the Norwegian Ski Association.

According to TV 2’s experience, some of Clas Brede Bråthen’s statements were recorded in the media following these skateboarding cases. Internal disagreements over this were central to the conflict between Bråthen and the Ski Association’s management.