Norway's Flugstad Oestberg to miss Beijing Games

Norway's Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg competes in the women's cross-country team sprint classic final during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics

Norway's double Olympic cross country skiing champion Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg will miss the 2022 Games in Beijing due to health issues, the country's winter sports governing body said on Sunday.

The Norwegian Ski Federation (NSF) said the 31-year-old, who won gold in the team sprint in Sochi in 2014 and the 4x5km relay in Pyeongchang in 2018, would miss the Tour de Ski and the Olympics.

Oestberg returned to the national team in November after almost two years of health problems, in which the results she returned in physical tests were not deemed to be high enough for the ski federation to clear her to compete.

"The planned follow-up after the first races shows that her health situation cannot manage the ski program. For that reason Ingvild must take a longer break from competition, which means that the Olympics are unfortunately too soon," NSF medical director Oeystein Andersen said in a statement.

Oestberg won the overall World Cup title in 2019.

"I have put in a huge amount of work, done my best, felt good and enjoyed participating in cross-country skiing again. (My) dreams are shattered, but I can do nothing but look forward," she said.

Reporting by Philip O'Connor, editing by Ed Osmond

SOURCE: REUTERS