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13 years ago things went wrong when my back broke. Now Jan Schmid gets another chance at home – this time as a coach.
The goal setting for the coming season is clear: Norway shall be the best nation in the World Cup.
In the WC facility in Granåsen, six competition days await the combined athletes. On February 27, the women start with their first competition.
– Last year we were the best nation for women in the World Cup, but not on the men's side. It must be a goal, I think. But the main goal is the WC, says Jan Schmid.
Only have one complaint
When the elite coach of the Norwegian combined national team meets Adresseavisen in October, the hope is still for plastic. Roller skiing sessions are held in the WC trails. Many training hours are held in Granåsen, and there are also athletes from other nations here.
Schmid passes this judgment on the WC facility:
– It is becoming a very good facility. When everything is finished, there is no better facility in the world. The only thing we can complain about is that we don't have the world's most stable weather.
After last season, the national team model was changed to combined. Three women and three men make up what is called elite A: The six are Gyda Westvold Hansen, Ida Marie Hagen, Mari Leinan Lund, Jørgen Graabak, Jarl Magnus Riiber and Jens Lurås Oftebro.
In addition, there are eight athletes at elite B, seven men and one woman.
– Last year there was a very large men's team, while the women's team had four athletes. We chose a team in particular as much as possible, and what we find out, we share with the others, explains Schmid.
– How does it work?
– I'm guessing you have shared opinions about it. My personal experience is that it's very much better for me, even if it's not the most important thing… But it's easier to follow the players closely when there are fewer of you. It is easier to try things out and explore things with a smaller number. I think we have had very good gatherings, where we get the boys and girls together for several sessions. It will be a pointed level. It's hard to be the one who goes the slowest on the intervals, for example, says Schmid.
– Fingers crossed
In the course of a year, he has around 200 travel days, but this season the most important competitions take place in the home region for Schmid, who represented Sjetne IL as an active player.
– I mostly think it will be really cool, he says.
– What do you think about the responsibility that comes with the coaching job?
– I live fine with that. If it goes “wrong”, then someone else has to do the work afterwards.
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As an active player, Schmid participated in six WCs.
– I have been around so many times as an athlete and trainer. What is so special about you, that as a performer, it was to a very large extent your own fault if it went wrong. As a trainer, you have done the work at the forefront, and so you just have to cross your fingers and bet that it works, says the 40-year-old.
A WC at home will be something all the athletes want to remember, Schmid believes, even if the Olympics on paper are probably bigger.
At least he remembers the WC 2011. In Holmenkollen.
– I was there, after all. But it didn't go well. I had a back that broke, says Schmid.
Nevertheless, he was left with two bronze medals after the team competitions.
– Slips under the radar
He also remembers the WC in 1997. In Trondheim. He was then 14 years old and a spectator – and had Swiss citizenship.
– I watched a Swiss who came third in the big hill. That's what I remember from that time, says Schmid, who received Norwegian citizenship in 2006.
As coach of a gold-chasing national team, Schmid chooses to keep a low media profile. He likes to let sports manager Ivar Stuan handle the headlines.
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– No one knows who I am. I slip very nicely under the radar, he smiles.
But when the WC approaches, and the snow covers Granåsen, he expects it to be different.
– Right now there is still a bit of a construction site here. I think I will feel it when it turns white.
– How will it be?
– My role is to be…. What do you say? A quiet island in a rough sea. I'll get to that. Jeg and Ivar (Stuan) complement each other very well, and we have a very robust coaching team, says Jan Schmid.
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