The speed of the famous Johannes Klebo at the finish of sprint distances can sometimes be compared with the most powerful Formula 1 cars. There is no one faster than a Norwegian in the last eight years, and four of his five Olympic gold medals in this discipline are a vivid confirmation of this.

Apparently, therefore, the 26-year-old athlete could not miss the debut stage of the royal series in Miami. But he did it at the wrong time. For the second month now, the athlete has been trying to agree on his contract with the Norwegian Ski Federation, but so far without success.

It turned out that Klebo put forward two conditions to the leaders, one of which has not yet been met. While compatriots are thinking about satisfying the wishes of Johannes, the national team star is having fun in America.

Pleasant process

The saga of contract negotiations between the Klebo family and Norwegian ski officials, as required by Western management culture, takes place in an atmosphere of mutual respect. Johannes’ father, representing the interests of his son in this process, releases positive epithets to the leadership of the Federation. Those, in turn, break into a smile and demonstrate confidence in the imminent completion of the process. Everyone is happy, but there is no result.

Although a month ago, Hakon Klebo argued that the dialogue between the parties was going in a constructive manner, and his son stated that the presence of the sprint group coach Arild Monsen in the team was almost the main argument in favor of continuing the joint work of Johannes and the national team.

Arild Monsen / Photo: © Vegard Wivestad Grätt / Keystone Press Agency / Global Look Press

Monsen had indeed signed his agreement with the federation before the 2025 World Cup and it seemed to be a signal that his charge’s negotiations would soon come to an end. But it turned out that the participants in the dialogue simply continue to enjoy the process and are in no hurry to complete it.

Everyone is equal, but Klebo is more equal

A little later it became known that Johannes was particularly concerned about two topics. The first is the opportunity to have individual training in the mountains. The second is work in the team of his personal serviceman Frode Pedersen.

Remembering the failure of the Norwegians at the Beijing Olympics, who spent less time in the mountains than the Russians, Klebo’s demands on the first point are clear:

“I think I will be even better. And time will tell if I was right. I thought about testing it earlier, but the pandemic stopped the attempt. Now, I think there is such a possibility. And although next winter the world championship will not be held in conditions of height, I decided to conduct a full-fledged high-altitude training, with the goal of simply trying to become even better as a skier for the world championship in Planica, – the Norwegian explained his position in an interview with TV2.

Johannes Klebo / Photo: © Jon Olav Nesvold / Keystone Press Agency / Global Look Press

At the same time, camps in the mountains are not provided for the rest of the team, so in order to fulfill Johannes’ wishes, you need to either redraw the plan or give Klebo more freedom than the rest. And the coaching staff with the federation are ready to go for it:

– You have to be honest. He has 48 World Cup victories and a lot of medals from the main competitions. I said that it would be difficult for me to build a team according to his wishes, but it is possible to do it. He is the best and he is a star. We treat everyone equally, but he will be given the opportunity to do so,” said Arild Monsen.

Now it becomes even clearer why Monsen’s presence in the national team is so important for Klebo. Arild is ready to make exceptions for the sake of his best student.

Went on vacation early

However, there is still no clarity on the second point, on which there were disagreements. According to the Norwegian newspaper Adressa, the greaser Pedersen was originally supposed to leave the national team, but Klebo did not like this, and he began to insist on his return. Apparently this has become a problem:

“We are working on this case and hope that everything will be cleared up at the end of this week,” says the head of the service of the Norwegian team, Stein Olav Snesrud.

It is pointless to wait for more accurate statements in this story. The parties keep a positive tone and continue to unravel the thin threads that should lead to a strong connection between the five-time Olympic champion and the federation. Will they just bring it? Dont clear. At the very least, the Norwegian champion is definitely not familiar with our saying: “Did the job – walk boldly.” Without waiting for a solution to the situation, Klebo flew overseas to the Formula 1 stage in Miami.

It was hard to miss the debut race on a track constructed from scratch, because the organizers did their best to make this event unique. For example, we prepared an artificial bay with painted water and real yachts. By the way, the Beijing Olympic champion in freestyle Gu Ailing (big air) also flew in to see Verstappen’s victory.

Photo: © Dan Istitene – Formula 1 / Contributor / Formula 1 / Gettyimages.com

In general, the Norwegian had a formal reason to spend a weekend in the USA, but with his short vacation, the Scandinavian star again showed that the issue of signing a contract is not painful for him. At the same time, Klebo is not going to deviate from his conditions. Apparently, the leadership of the Norwegian ski races will again have to follow the lead of their main asset.