Throughout his 20-year national team career, questions about eating, weight and food were something Björgen had to deal with. Although she managed to resist the temptation to take shortcuts, she is honest that the idea shocked her at some point.
There were times when people didn’t eat candy and where you wonder if you should have candy when you’re the oldest on the team, Marit Bjørgen tells NRK.
– Do I need it? Björgen asks rhetorically.
Book launch: Marit Björgen keeping up with the biography of Wiener Heart.
In her new autobiography “Winner Heart,” written by NRK journalist Ingerid Stenevold for Kagge Forlag, the Winter Olympics of all time describes her experiences with body stress as an active athlete.
It’s part of doing the best sports. I don’t think we will ever get rid of that. Unfortunately.
Practitioners dropped candy
Bjørgen believes that there was a change in the food culture of the national team at the beginning of the 2000s. Veterans Benti Skari, Anita Moen and Major Helen Nymoen have resigned. Parts of the new generation had a different approach to food.
Ongje Björgen: Marit Björgen with daughter Scary in Asiago in 2003. Scary won, and Björgen was fourth.
Photo: Terje Bendiksby / NTB
“Suddenly, for example, no one eats candy anymore. Marit does not know exactly when it happened, but she remembers that one day he hit her – something changed »As stated in the book.
“You don’t have any thoughts about it, maybe some new people will come that challenge, and then there’s talk about it,” says Bjørgen.
She says it has varied how much has been discussed, but that these weight problems have been recurring throughout the national team’s career.
She herself questioned her own recipe and continued to eat the dessert, hoping that others would see that it did not harm the results. For her, it became a recipe for success.
If you start thinking a little bit about those trails and want to lose weight, it’s easy to spin in the wrong direction. As a top athlete, you train. If you want to develop, if you want to improve, if you want quality in what you do, you depend on the industry. That’s what your gasoline is, says Björgen.
– an eternal challenge
Svein Tore Samdal was coach of the national team during the generational change that Bjørgen talked about.
– I can’t remember Marit spending so much energy on her. But she noticed differences in terms of food, not surprisingly. It was something we worked on constantly, but it was more about the individual athletes than the team, Samdal tells NRK.
Dual success: Svein Tore Samdal (left) was Marit Bjørgen’s coach on both the junior and elite national teams.
Photo: Ned Alley / NTB
Marit was on the rise at the time. She believed in diet and exercise. But she notes that there are others with a different approach. Marit has a good teacher at Scary. Getting food is one of the criteria for success. There I went to a good school, points out the coach.
Samdal agrees with Bjørgen that higher sports will not eliminate body stress challenges.
– Bjørgen came out differently than normal, and was a healthy role model in sports. But in all sports where body weight is altered, especially on the inclines, body weight and body weight will be an essential part of what achievement is all about. You can’t get past that. It was an eternal challenge, says Sven Toure Samdal.
It encourages openness
The topic is very relevant today. jumping star Maren Lundby said last week that she would give up the Olympics Because she does not want to lose weight irresponsibly. VG He has recently focused on eating disorders in the ski environment.
– It’s demanding and difficult. Bring with me what is written in the media and it may be more than you think too. It is important to be open and talk about it.
Bjorgen is more interested in younger athletes who have a developing body. She’s glad she grew up by the time I got off.
“Marit thinks again about the social media and cell phones that didn’t exist in her upbringing and adolescence, and the constant stream of glamorous images and inaccessible idols that young people are exposed to today. She thinks she was lucky, even with her coaches. Along The road was among the strongest, but she did not receive any comment about it from any of her coaches.” described in the book.
We in the national team have a support system and we get help when we need it. But then there is the concern about younger runners who are in their teens and being good role models for them too. You hear a lot of stories about the disappearance of little girls. It’s the talent that we lose along the way that ruins a lot of their career or life after sports, says Björgen.
She believes the key lies in increasing openness and knowledge, which in turn will give parents and coaches the tools to face challenges as they arise. There you find a bright spot.
A lot has happened in the past 10 years, says Björgen.
“Infuriatingly humble internet trailblazer. Twitter buff. Beer nerd. Bacon scholar. Coffee practitioner.”
