This is not as bad as Michael Jordan ousting Isaiah Thomas for the 92 Dream Team.
Nobody cares about who the last guy on a cross country team is, because what matters is keeping the guys who are actually the best for the team happy.
The US doesn't regret not selecting Isaiah Thomas and Norway won't regret not selecting this Svela guy, nor will they regret making Jakob happy instead of Nordas.
XCfan! wrote:
Svela has raced the Euro XC twice before finishing 58th and 60th. His 60th place came 1.5 months after running 28.39 in Hytteplanmila (Norway's fastes 10k) while he ran 7 sec faster, clocking a 28.32 at the same race this year. He also ran 10sec faster on the track 5k this year than in 2022. Some may argue that his latest 28.16 in the Lille 10k would secure him an auto-qualifier for the Euro XC this year, but in light of his terrible XC track record and only some improvement on the track and road, I would still put him as an outsider to finish in the top 30 at the Euro XC which is the Norwegian Federations benchmark for individual assessment.
If Svela was interested in running the Euro Cross it would make sense to find a decent XC race and show that he is no longer such a weak XC runner as he has been in the past.
I really don't get all of this whining from Svela and Nordaas. Is it really so strange that the Ingebrigtsen Wünder Kid and his entourage get some special treatment, especially when Svela has done a bare minimum to try to qualify for this championship and has absolutely zero track record in XC?
This adds a lot of needed context. Svela also could’ve run the Norwegian XC championships to bolster his case.
This is about Filip, not Svela. Filip's unfortunately had very little success for years. If he is back, that's another story. Nepotism cheapens the sport.
If Nordas has dropped out does that mean there is a place for Svela?!
No thread on the fact that Filip was the second Norwegian to finish behind Jakob at the championships. Spain would have won regardless of who else was in it but Filip performed over all but his brother for his team.
He’s already brainstorming his next rant. Probably something along the lines like how Jakob didn’t hold the door open for him, or how Henrik laughed at his nose spreader. He finds the littlest things to complain about, you would think he is still in middle school.
Dream Team wrote:
This is not as bad as Michael Jordan ousting Isaiah Thomas for the 92 Dream Team.
Nobody cares about who the last guy on a cross country team is, because what matters is keeping the guys who are actually the best for the team happy.
The US doesn't regret not selecting Isaiah Thomas and Norway won't regret not selecting this Svela guy, nor will they regret making Jakob happy instead of Nordas.
Good analogy. I think MJ was retaliating for Isaiah not passing him the ball in an All Star game. Which makes it both better and worse, MJ took it personally and Angola was in trouble.
Srsly wrote:
It’s not like either of them would even get close to sniffing top 20.
Aged like milk. Filip finished 20th, 2nd place Norwegian, and only 43 seconds behind his first place brother. Sounds like the selectors made a great choice on this occasion.
Nordas stays home DEVASTATED watching Team Ingebrigtsen destroy the European competition!!
Update wrote:
No thread on the fact that Filip was the second Norwegian to finish behind Jakob at the championships. Spain would have won regardless of who else was in it but Filip performed over all but his brother for his team.
Filip was top 20 I believe
Nordas comes across as a massive loser, what is this guys problem?