If you’re in the area, this could be your last chance to see Oslo’s most prominent landmark, the Holmenkollen ski jump, to be completely torn down within 16 October. The demolition takes place in order to make way for a total reconstruction, to be completed by next year’s December, at the price of NOK 900 million, in good time for the 2010 world championship trials.
I won’t go into further details, except for quoting Wikipedia’s intro on the Holmenkollen facility:
The Holmenkollen ski jump, located in Holmenkollen, Oslo, Norway, is host to the world’s second oldest ski jump competition still in existence (the oldest being hosted by a small, local club named Medicinernes Skiklub Svartor in nearby Seterkollen).
Since then the capacity of the stands have been increased to over 50,000 people and the jump has been extended 18 times, last time in 1982. Today’s tower extends 60 meters above ground, and 417 metres above sea level. The current record of 136 meters was achieved by Tommy Ingebrigtsen of Norway on January 25, 2006.
Crown Prince Olav participated in 1922 and 1923. Every year, more than a million tourists visit the ski arena. The tower offers a panoramic view of Oslo and the Oslofjord.
Here’s a little novelty for you: The Holmenkollen ski jump filmed from an RC plane:
Hi Jarl! Here is something for a new subject for you. It connects loosely to Holmenkollen in a way:
There has been a constant row here in Finland about the doping in skiing since last winter. All kinds of new allegations and things have been coming out from the past. Marjo Matikainen, one of our most succesful skiiers has been under suspicion and she has denied all the claims all the time. She is now a succesful politician, by the way. Which brings me to the situation at hand:
Norwegian guy Ingard Lereim, who burned the finnish skiiers in Lahti games from doping, came out yesterday saying that he knows for a fact that nobody in Norden used EPO in the 80′s and 90′s. This includes all the nordic skiiers, Matikainen among them, he said. Originally the claims of her EPO using came from anonymous sources but it is now known that those statements came from her team sisters in our national team.
What makes this interesting is that this is a guy who in the past blamed finns being doping skiiers. Now for some reason his tune has changed. And this comes out at time when the whole leadership of finnish skiing federation is under suspicion for offering bribes to Isometsä (one of the burned skiiers at Lahti games) so that he would take the sole blame of the that scandal.
There has been speculation over here among the people that Lereim is just trying to contain the scandal now because he fears that the past secrets of Norwegian success would come out. After all, people say, there were some astmathic skiiers in Norwegian olympic teams and at least one of the asthma medicines, Clenbuterol, is also used as a doping substance, like burned runnes Katherine Krabbe and Grit Breuer did.
Now I do not know wheater that was a case or not, but I do know that no asthmathic person can skii. I had a friend in the army who had asthma, and he could not skii during the winter at all despite his medication.
Anyway, it would be interesting to hear what if anything is been said over there. And it is weird that a guy who in the past said that there is a systematic doping in finnish skiing, now back tracks his statements and claims that no nordic skiier ever used EPO. That was the argument of Matikainen and finnish skii federation too, they said that they did not even know about EPO until late 90′s.
Fortunately some reporters found old magazines which said otherwise. There were articles in the skiing magazines about EPO all ready in the late 80′s and one of the finnish team doctors talked about EPO using during the Salt Lake City olympic games. So that was that and now Lereim comes out making these statements.
Interesting at least. This might blow up on all the Nordic countries and their skiing heroes. This might be the biggest doping scandal ever in the history of sports, if it spreads to the other countries. We will see if anybpdy who was in the inner circle opens his mouth. The police is investigating the whole mess here.
Hello again, Finne igen!
First of all I should tell you that I haven’t got the faintest idea as to who this Ingard Lereim might be. Then again I treat TV sports the way others treat commercial breaks: Go fix a cup of coffee, do something completely different — or switch channels. So you see, while I find the Holmenkollen facility interesting architecturally and as a landmark, I’m afraid I don’t have a clue as to what’s actually going on up there.
But I do know this: I find the idea of a doping free Norway highly unlikely. We’ve had incidents, and it would seem that everybody’s deeply shocked to learn that such abominations take place in the immaculate Norway(!!!). We tend to believe that we stand on higher moral ground over here, bringing nothing but peace, prosperity and the highest of moral standards to the outside world. I don’t know who we think we’re fooling, but I’m convinced that it pretty much sums up our self-perception. Which reminds me to suggest an article I wrote over at iNorden last year (as you may have surmised already, I’m not your average patriot, the European federalist that I am).
But I’m digressing: Like you, I’m convinced that the Norwegian confederation of sports have a lot to answer for. After all, who on earth are we to think we’re morally superior in each and every way, sports included? I’m not buying the Norwegian consensus on this one.
Just read our evening papers. I think this Lereim is antidoping guy and was employed by the Norwegian skiing federation. I’m guessing. He is famous here because he is the guy who burned all the finns at Lahti wm-skii championships back then.
DDDD Not at all!! 
DDD
Anyway, now the head of the finnish Anti Doping Office says that Lereim’s comments are nonesense. There was no EPO tests back in the 80′s and 90′s. The only thing they were monitoring back then was hemoglobin. And this hemohes plasma expander was made illegal at 2000, so it was used before legally in the sport to lower the hemoglobin figures in athletes.
By the way it was this hemohes which was the doping substance that the finns were burned. According one coach it was used to cover the use of EPO widely back in the 90′s. In the Lahti games the finns asked from norwegians is it going to be tested. Guess what the norwegians answered?
And yes, Holmenkollen has much more values than just as a sport arena. You are right about that.
Dear Finne igen,
I’m sorry for the unforgivably late reply, for which I have no other explanation than my total ignorance — and, I’m afraid, absolute lack of interest (i.e. I simply didn’t know what to say), but I have given the matter some thought, in capacity of layman and sports antagonist:
Seeing as future incidents of doping seem inevitable, wouldn’t it, in order to restore the fairness on which athletics rely, be better to allow EPO and similar substances on a general basis, improving the overall performance in the process (not that it’s a goal in itself, rather an unavoidable side effect)?
Please bear in mind that I don’t intend it as a proposal. I’m merely thinking loud, but let’s face it: The alternative is continued injustice, as the dope abusers, of whom some will be exposed, stand to harvest future victories.
I’m curious as to wherein the fair play in that lies, provided that fair play remains the athletic chief objective.