Swedish expert says sorry to Bjørgen

Pyeongchang, South Korea 2018. Marit Bjørgen. Foto: Terje Pedersen / NTB scanpix

Swedish cross-country expert apologizes to Bjørgen

Commentator Tomas Pettersson in the Swedish newspaper Expressen apologizes to Marit Bjørgen after stating that her time as the queen of cross-country was over.

 

– Just let me apologize, Marit, writes the commentator and cross-country expert in Expressen after what he alleged earlier in the Olympics.

Your time is over. It was beautiful as long as it lasted, but the ski world has a new regent. Her name is Charlotte Kalla, wrote Pettersson after Kalla had snatched the Olympic gold in a skiathlon from Marit Bjørgen.

On Sunday Bjørgen outclassed both Kalla and everyone else at the 30 kilometer, took her eighth Olympic gold in her career and thereby became the most successful winter Olympics athlete ever, regardless of sex. Now Petterson bends his knee and apologizes.

The cross-country expert denotes Bjørgen’s 30 km victory as a brutal power demonstration, and he writes, among other things, that he hopes Bjørgen will continue as a cross-country skier.

– A ski world without Marit Bjørgen will be a lesser world. Please continue for another season, Marit. Let’s experience a World Championship drama in Seefeld with you, Kalla, Stina Nilsson and Therese Johaug, he writes and adds that Kalla admittedly won over Bjørgen in two out of three individual Olympic events.

– But it’s too silly to say anything but that momma Marit (37) is still the queen of this world. Especially after this day, Pettersson writes on Sunday.

Bjørgen goes home from South Korea with five more medals in her baggage: two gold, one silver and two bronze. In her career, Bjørgen has won 15 Olympic medals in total: eight gold, four silver and three bronze.

Hopefully the airlines will turn a blind eye to the overweight luggage.

Touched Marit Bjørgen got her gold medal during the closing ceremony

After a colorful introductory show at the Olympic Stadium in Pyeongchang, a visibly touched Marit Bjørgen got her gold medal after victory in the 30 km event.

 

The Olympic Stadium was packed for the final ceremony, rounding of more than two weeks with competitions in 15 different sports. For Norway, it was the medal harvest of all times.

The crowning of the Norwegian effort was achieved when Bjørgen obtained the gold medal on Sunday. The 37-year-old also had the honour of both carrying the Norwegian flag into the stadium and receiving her gold medal during the closing ceremony.

The gold medal was her second in Pyeongchang, and her eighth Olympic gold medal overall in her career. Together with four silver and three bronze medals, makes her the most successful winter Olympics competitor ever.

Russian practitioners hoped to march under the Russian flag at the closing ceremony, but were refused the honour since the country has been involved in the two doping cases revealed during the games. Nevertheless, it is likely that the exclusion of the Russian Olympic Committee is terminated shortly.

Tension

But if the show ends the thrills in the sports arenas, the political tensions persist in the region.

High-level delegates from North Korea, including General Kim Yong-chol, former leader of the North Korean intelligence service, had come to the neighboring country to attend the closing ceremony in the Olympic city. Kim is accused of being behind an attack on a South Korean warship in 2010 where 46 people were killed. Kim’s visit led to protests in South Korea.

He saw the athletes from North and South Korea march under their own flags, but still together as during the opening ceremony.

Trump’s daughter

Attending the ceremony was Donald Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, who shared the same VIP box with Kim. They did not seem to have any kind of communication though.

However, South Korean authorities reported that Kim has signaled that North Korea is “very willing” to have talks with the United States.

IOC President Thomas Bach spoke warmly about Korean fraternization before declaring the games as being over.

-You have shown how sport brings people together in our fragile world. You have shown how sports build bridges; he told the Korean athletes and dubbed the Pyeongchang Olympic Games “the games of new horizons.”

 

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today