Philipp Fylde Andersen against the association after its destruction – NRK Sport – Sports news, results and broadcast schedule

– The only thing I heard was a five-minute phone call from Egil (Kristiansen) on Sunday. Other than that, there is silence from the union.

This is what Philipp Veld-Andersen told NRK after announcing the national biathlon team for next season on Tuesday.

Gillingen was not among the list of names that were presented, neither in the elite nor in the national team.

The biathlon team already knew before the national championships in Geilo, about a week ago, that its place in the elite team would be lost after a difficult season.

– “I agree one hundred percent that I have no place on the elite team,” he says.

But he was not prepared for the fact that he would also be excluded from the national team squad. Feld-Andersen calls for more openness about the withdrawal process itself.

– When you go from being in the elite team, to not having a place in the national team at all, I think anyway it was natural to do it in a different way than a phone call on Sunday evening, says Field. Andersen.

– We are human in this

The 24-year-old has not competed in a single World Cup race this season. He did not assert himself in the Norwegian Cup either. Just before Christmas, he was diagnosed with swine flu, and subsequently struggled to get back into shape.

– I would say I'm having a little identity crisis, he told NRK in March.

The exit from the national team was another setback for Veld Andersen.

– It's a brutal industry. Obviously it's voluntary, but we're also human in this matter. These are difficult pressures.

Star sprinter Vettel Sjastad Christiansen has previously criticized the treatment he received from management when he was excluded from the World Cup Tour in Oberhof this season. Feld-Andersen thinks Christiansen has a good point and says uncertainty is “bad for health.”

– You are in difficult situations and it is not an ordinary job where you get a contract and have to do something extraordinary until you get fired. Here you know you have the job for a week, and then on Sunday you can be told that you no longer have your job, he points out.

– What do you think about this process?

– It's brutal enough thinking about how the situation is. Then you stand in it a little more. Then everyone agrees with it and knows it's brutal, and then it's individual how good people are at talking about their feelings. They might be more interested in it during the season, and then maybe forget about it a little bit when the season is over, Field-Andersen says.

Therefore, the biathlete believes that organized processes are extremely necessary. It is believed that the association puts itself in danger when it claims to care about the mental health of athletes.

– However, they themselves claimed to have focused a lot on mental health this winter. When things like this happen, however, they haven't realized it yet, and done something special to protect those who are “kicking them.”

– Not often

National team director Per Arne Putnan tells NRK that there is a limit to what one can say at an early stage when it comes to withdrawals. But he understands Veld-Andersen's frustration.

– They (practitioners) know to some extent where the country is in terms of withdrawal. In Philippe's defence, you rarely come straight from an elite team and don't get a place on the team, says Putnan, who stresses that the top sport is sometimes tough.

Furthermore, Putnan points out that mental health is an important point for the association.

– We try to have predictability in procedures when it comes to withdrawals, so everyone can see how things are going. But others have noticed this winter, which is a challenge when there are so many players, especially on the men's side, who are performing well, Putnan says.

On the men's side, there are six other Norwegians among the top seven at the World Cup. Also in the IBU Cup, the level below, the Norwegian athletes swept and finished in the top five overall.

– There are a lot of people who knew this season that they weren't sure who they would be next week, but that's how competitive sports are. There should be healthy competition for places. After all, we had a tour with Vettel (Kristiansen Stadium) who had to stay in Oberhof because Johan Olaf performed well in the FIDE Operators Cup. Butnan points out that for many, this will be a change from the past.