The off the track action is heating up in Norway. On July 29th, Narve Nordas' training partner Per Svela came out two days ago and said that it's ridiculous that Narve is allowed to be be bullied and discriminated against. He said that Nordas had been systematically opposed, bullied and discriminated against by employees of both the Norwegian Athletics Federation and (Olympic federation)".
He specifically said he didn't want to get specific on the bullying allegations but we know there was an incident between him and one of Jakob's brother (Filip?) last year I believe. They are upset that Filip is able to go to the warmup track with Jakob while Sveala an't do that for Nordas.
Norway's sporitng director has responded to the harsh criticism saying they only got 1 extra pass and thus it went to the higher ranked athlete.
Today, Nordas father has come out and said he totally believes Svela.
"What Per Svela says, I trust one hundred percent. He has been with Narve the whole time, and he is honest. I am disappointed, annoyed and dejected on Narve's behalf, says Narve Gilje Nordås' father, Asbjørn Nordås.
And he thinks it might cost his son a medal:
"We saw it in the World Championships - then Svela stood up for Narve and did a great job. Then Narve succeeded and got a medal. I think the fact that Svela is there, or not, can be the difference between a medal and not a medal.
As for Nordas, he's vowed to stay off social media and newspaper websites during the Olympics so he can focus.
This article with the dad's quotes is behind a paywall (I susbscribe to the paper).
Here is a summary, not behind a paywalll.
