When football defender Lucas Kubr moved across the Arctic Circle to the city of Bodø four years ago, he knew that a festive winter, a lot of hard work and, last but not least, artificial turfs awaited him, because in Norway it is hardly worth maintaining a natural pitch for football. Norwegian athletes have created an advantage from the winter, which is often unbearably hot, that is the envy of the whole world.
The Americans, Germans, Italians, French, and Japanese lined up far behind them in the watched medal ranking at the 2026 Olympics. “Why the Norwegians, when they have the highest standard of living? They wouldn’t have to work hard. But they want to,” says Lucas Kubr, a former representative of the Czech Republic under the age of 21 and at the time a substitute in Hradec Králové.
He chose Bodø in the north of Norway as his first big club. “I didn’t have a signed contract yet, July 2022. Bodø had practically no experience in European cups at the time, but in the second preliminary round of the Champions League they blew away Linfield from Northern Ireland 8-0. The players had fun, the fans cheered, the match ended, there was applause and a slushy. I would have expected them to go out for a beer together. That’s how it would have ended in the Czech Republic, I guarantee you,” recounts Kubr.
Don’t tell future teammates rode home by bike?
I’m not saying that, but maybe I just looked wrong. But if you’re talking about it, for example, midfielder Ulrik Saltnes came to every other training session by bicycle.
He was one of the captains in my day. A huge personality who grew up in a village on the eastern tip of Norway. He spent his entire adult career in Bodø, over 300 matches. He made money, he had a Tesla in his garage, but he rode a bicycle for training. An hour there, an hour back.
An hour of cycling before football training is hell enough.
Tell me that. I asked him more than once: What are you crazy about? It’s gross, so why are you pedaling?
That he likes it. That he needs to get in the mood for training. That he likes to feel fresh.
That says a lot about Norwegians.
They can’t hang around. They are athletes from birth. It’s in their blood. I will give an example from Bodø, if you allow. I’m not spoiled, I had to work a lot in my career, but there I was surprised by such a small thing that the guys were dragging their briefcases from the match.
You can sit in the car after all. You can get home from the stadium in seven minutes. But the Norwegians, my teammates, walked very often. It was mostly cold, the cold wind cutting right into your eyes under the cap. To this day, it makes me uncomfortable when this kind of weather appears. We foreigners took a taxi: We’re not going to walk!
Despite all the medals and high standards, Norwegians do not stop living with nature. One of their commandments is: Nature is our playground.
Absolutely. Every other family has a cabin in the mountains. While the Czechs used to go on a Friday afternoon for the weekend to have a few beers in peace, the Norwegians go to the mountains. For a picnic in the snow. To hunt. On hikes.
Photo: Profimedia.cz
Until exhaustion. Johannes Klaebo at the finish line of the 50 kilometer gold marathon. The mission hurt.
Have you heard the opinion that medals are a projection of a nation’s sporting performance?
That agrees. Norwegians have sport and exercise as their lifestyle. Maybe a little crazy in our eyes, but extremely active at the same time. Which helps in better mental and physical health. Since childhood.
Do the Norwegians celebrate their medals?
They are proud, but they don’t overdo it. We play curling and cheer, even though we don’t know much about the sport. The Norwegians are elsewhere. Plus when I realize they don’t have to…
On average, they have such a high standard that they would not have to complicate their lives in any way. They don’t race for money. Not even for fame. They don’t have to support families and lift themselves out of poverty. They are not hungry. They just want to be the best at what they do.
Yes, I would say that the feeling of victory drives them forward. Easy comparison with the Czech Republic, if you will. With us, everyone bet on something with everyone in sports. You play bago before training, and whoever stays in the circle the longest wins. After training, bets are placed on who will be the first (or last) to hit the crossbar. At stake is breakfast for everyone, pizza for everyone, tatranki. Loser pays. I don’t remember experiencing anything like this in Norway. Norwegians enjoy winning without betting. They want to excel at what they do. And winning makes them feel happy.
Photo: Profimedia.cz
Lucas Kubr (in white).
However, as far as I know, rankings or match scores are not allowed to be published for children under 13 in Norway. To remove the fear of losing. So that children are not afraid to take risks.
Even my coaches said: It’s important how you played and how you felt about it. The result is not that important. Discover the things that go well for you, you can screw up. Now I’m going to play in the Czech league in Zlín, which doesn’t mind being late from the tenth minute. He takes any win and doesn’t care how crazy football leads to it.
Norwegian medals at the 2026 Olympics
Cross-country skiing 7 gold – 2 silver – 5 bronze
Nordic combination 3 – 0 – 0
Ski jumping 2 – 2 – 1
Acrobatic skiing 2 – 0 – 0
Speed skating 1 – 2 – 1
Alpine skiing 0 – 1 – 1
TOTAL 18 – 12 – 11
Some sports psychologists add an interesting parable: When all the children receive a reward for the race, they grow into snowflakes that soon melt away. But in Norway, merciless champions grow from flakes. Klaebo, Bjørndalen, Bjørgen, Daehlie, Ulvang.
Even I always had it in my head that I had to win at all costs. Even when I was growing up in Belgium and doing athletics. Norwegians don’t. They do sports because they want to. Results and possibly medals come only later, smoothly, as a result of their efforts. What strikes me most of all is that no one forces the children to do anything there.
Norwegian medals at the 2024 Olympics
Decathlon – zlato (Rooth)
Handball women – honey
Weight-lifting women – gold (Koandaová)
5000 m – zlato (Ingebrigtsen)
400 m hurdles – silver (Warholm)
Yachting – bronze (Høstová)
Beach volleyball – bronze (Mol a Sørum)
Greco-Roman wrestling – bronze (Bullenová)
It is a bet on natural development. On natural motivation. I can totally hear Czech parents telling their child after a race or match: Next time it should be better. In Norway they will say: Great, I’m looking forward to the next game in a week. When I think about it, this is exactly how Erling Haaland, one of the best soccer players today, grew up. He was motivated, he wanted to move. But alone. No one forced him. Then the limits for children do not have to have boundaries. At the same time, Norwegians are quite cold people.
How does it go together with sports champions?
A warrior’s mentality can easily be hidden behind a cold face and introverted behavior. If they want to excel in something, they don’t know a brother. Now, for example, Bodø/Glimt, an outsider in the Champions League. When they drew against Slavia in the fall, we thought they were lucky. But it wasn’t luck, but quality, vigor and combativeness. In the end, they also washed away Manchester City at home and advanced. They beat Inter Milan 3-1 in the first match for the quarter-finals last week. No, they are not better footballers, but they don’t let anything go. They don’t complain about pain. They are mentally strong, resilient. After all, like all of Norway.
