Therese Johaug is expected to make a final decision on her return in the first part of August, technical director Jörn Ernst told NTB.
“I expect it to be the first part of August, after the holidays,” Ernest writes in a letter.
In mid-June, Ernst told Channel 2 that the plan was to make a decision before the summer, but no specific date had been set.
When the Norwegian women's national team was presented in April, Sjur Ole Svarstad confirmed to NTB that Johaug would be welcome in the national team if she decided to compete at the World Championships on home soil. Marit Bjørgen and Pall Gunnar Mikkelspläs are assistant coaches for the women's cross country.
Johaug returned to cross-country with a bang when she took the gold medal in the NM three-mile race in March. On May 1, she won the half marathon in a time of 1.11. 25. She was just 55 seconds short of the Norwegian Athletics Federation's requirement for the distance.
The 36-year-old from Dalsbygda took a stunning win at the Lofoten Skyrace at the weekend, almost ten minutes ahead of the next woman on the results list.
Johaug has won 14 World Cups and four Olympic gold medals in his career. Three of those Olympic gold medals came in Beijing two years ago.
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