Cross Country Canada and Norweigan Steinar Mundal have mutually agreed to discontinue Steinar’s coaching services effective Nov.18. Writes CCC “we appreciate the significant contribution that Steinar has made to our National Ski Team program since May of this year.”
A replacement coach with World Cup experience is being sought, firstly on an interim basis, for the remainder of the 2007-08 season, and secondly for the period leading up to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
Mundal was the Canadian head coach in the mid to late nineties, including the 1998 Olympics in Japan. He returned to the Canadian staff in May as a World Cup coach and was based out of Europe.
Mundal told the Norwegian web site sprintgutta.no, “It was more traveling than I had anticipated. Periods of up to 2 months away from home is tough, especially when you only get 5 days at home before you hit the road again for a new camp. That’s why I decided to quit now, before the start of the competition period.”
There also appeared to be some philosophical differences – “I also felt that it was a bit too much focus on testing in Canada and not enough room for me as a coach to decide the training program.”
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Sources: Cross-Country Canada, www.sprintgutta.no
