Casper Ruud has revealed that one of the keys to recent Norwegian success in the sporting world is a big training centre in the country where all their athletes come together to work out.
Norwegian sport is booming at the elite level with Ruud among a talented pool alongside the likes of footballers Erling Haaland and Ada Hegerberg, athletes Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Karsten Warholm, and golfer Viktor Hovland - while Scandinavian sport as a whole has also seen a big surge outside the usual calling of winter sports.
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Ruud was asked a question by Danish motorsport legend Tom Kristensen in Eurosport’s Voice Notes series why he thinks there are so many Scandinavians at the top of world sport at the moment.
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The 24-year-old, who plays Alexander Zverev for a place in the French Open final on Friday, explained there is a big Olympic facility in Norway where all the athletes train, while he credited Danish star Caroline Wozniacki for kicking off the Scandi-takeover.
“Scandinavia is a beautiful place that we’re from and I’ve always found it interesting that the Swedes have had so many former world No. 1s, top 10 players in the world and they’ve had Zlatan [Ibrahimovic] dominating football for many years," Ruud replied to Kristensen, a nine-time Le Mans champion and Eurosport's motorsport expert at the illustrious race this weekend.
“I sort of thought it was time for Norway and Denmark to start stepping up. Obviously with Caroline Wozniacki being world No. 1 and winning Grand Slams, she started the whole thing.
"Norway are doing pretty good these days, Haaland in soccer, Viktor Hovland in golf, [Henrik, Filip and Jakob] Ingebrigtsen brothers in running, Warholm in running also and so on, and there’s still a lot of players I haven’t even mentioned yet in Denmark with Holger [Rune], there’s a lot of great guys these days doing well in sport.
“I don’t know about in Denmark but in Norway we have a very good community, we have an Olympic fitness centre that most of our athletes practise in and work out in. So any time I go there I would meet people like Karsten Warholm or former gold medallists in running or rowing and it’s always great to connect and be inspired by each other.
“And sometimes the Alpine skiing team is there lifting weights and I’m there doing running and we can chat and talk during our breaks so I think we have a really good training community in Norway.
“I’m not sure how it is in Denmark and in Sweden but I think for Norway it’s a big part of the reason why a lot of Norwegians are doing well, it’s almost like we’re training together in a way even though we’re all doing separate sports and it’s really motivating.”
Voice Notes: Number one in tennis or golf? Ruud put on the spot by Hovland
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On June 10 and 11 strap yourself in for a live sport rollercoaster ride. With the finals of Roland-Garros, 24 Hours of Le Mans, Speedway Grand Prix, the UCI Mountain Bike World Series, the Criterium du Dauphine, MotoGP and the Champions League final, it’s the Weekend of Champions live on Eurosport, discovery+ and BT Sport.
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