DAVOS, Switzerland – Northug appeared calm when he met the press Friday for what will be his debut on the World Cup this season.
“Easy training days at altitude have been good for me. I’m excited to race. It’s a little strange that this will be the first World Cup races of the season, but I won’t be disappointed if I finish a little ways down on the result list,” Northug said during his 20-minute press conference in Davos, Switzerland Friday afternoon. The amount of Norwegian and Swedish press that came out for the press conference was impressive. Northug didn’t offer anything huge, but claims to be fully in control for the rest of the season.
“I only ask advice from myself. Everything else I just shut out,” Northug explained.
Advice from experts and former champions is not interesting to him.
Wants to crack the code
Northug left the FIS season opener in Beitostoelen Norway knocked out. He sat out the World Cup opener in Gällivare, Sweden, and the following World Cup round in Kuusamo, Finland. Now, Northug wants to crack the Davos code. A lot of racers run into trouble when they have to race at 1500 meters altitude. That is also true for Northug, whose 21st place here last season is his career best for Davos. Former results include a 34th and 55th place. “Bad results have nothing to do with mental strength. I just haven’t found the flow here. This time, I’ll race fast. I need a good race here. If I finish 20th, I’ll be satisfied,” Northug said. “It might have been good for me to fall down the drain a little.”