Nordic Nation: The Astrid Chronicles

Way back it seems now, in 2012, an op-ed appeared in The New York Times. Titled “The ‘Busy’ Trap,” the op-ed is a serious and somewhat comical riff on how ‘busy’ we all are. If your day’s schedule is defined by overscheduled, then you too are ‘busy’.

In this episode of Nordic Nation, we interview Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen. At 30 years old, Jacobsen is a longtime member of the venerable Norwegian national ski team — and she’s truly busy. Her career on the World Cup has spanned a decade, bookended by her first World Championship medal in 2007 in Sapporo, Japan (a sprint), and three 2017 World Champ medals in Lahti, Finland. There, Jacobsen placed third in the 10-kilometer classic and 30 k skate and was part of the winning 4 x 5 k relay.

Norway’s Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen on her way to bronze during the women’s 10 k classic at the 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland. (Photo: John Lazenby/lazenbyphoto.com)

Jacobsen also hasn’t lost sight of her longer-term goal of becoming a doctor. She’s currently a medical student at the University of Oslo and a bit more than halfway through her six-year course of studies. Life, racing, and training at the highest levels, serious professional ambitions, along with placing her name in the pool of candidates to become an International Olympic Committee Athlete Representative, Jacobsen keeps a tight schedule.

If you’re too busy for this episode of Nordic Nation, hook up the headphones, go ahead and multitask — carve out 51 minutes and 51 seconds for the Astrid chronicles.

The all-Norwegian women’s 30 k freestyle mass start podium at 2017 World Championships in Lahti, Finland, with Marit Bjørgen (c) in first, Heidi Weng (l) in second, and Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen (r) in third.

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Jason Albert

Jason lives in Bend, Ore., and can often be seen chasing his two boys around town. He’s a self-proclaimed audio geek. That all started back in the early 1990s when he convinced a naive public radio editor he should report a story from Alaska’s, Ruth Gorge. Now, Jason’s common companion is his field-recording gear.