Northug went public in several rounds at the end of August and put the cards on the table and admitted to using cocaine while driving like crazy at 200 kilometers per hour on an 80-road, which he also filmed.
When the blood samples were analyzed, it showed no traces of drugs, which led to the suspicion of drug drunkenness being removed.
He thus admitted things that could not be proved in a courtroom.
Now Northug is going into therapy to find the right thing in life.
Northug became a superstar overnight with his cocky rock star attitude when he broke through in late winter 2006 with his first victories in the World Cup as a 20-year-old.
There were then two Olympic golds and 13 World Cup golds during the successful sports career.
His father John has thought a lot about the fact that a cross-country ski star, who is outwardly associated with a healthy lifestyle, could get stuck in the party and cocaine swamp.
"He was very young when he got celebrity status"
- First and foremost, you think back on the breakthrough.
He was very young and got a lot of attention and celebrity status.
At the same time he performed at the highest sporting level with a high adrenaline rush.
It is a life that is very special, when I think about it, says father John from his home in little Mosvik outside Trondheim to NRK.
Now Petter gets professional help to find his way back.
The family can follow the treatment via Teams on the computer.
- A lot of it is about training in the normal everyday life that he has never actually had.
That's what's important.
I feel that Petter is very motivated and the professional support has come close to Petter, says father John and feels optimistic about following the process.
Petter has been tagged and now trains a lot, including with his little brother Even.
Thinking of a comeback in Beitostölen, or?
- Maybe I should sign up for Beitostölen, says 34-year-old Petter with a sly smile that does not reveal if it is another move or actually serious about the Norwegian long-distance premiere in November that all hard-working Norwegian skiers will participate in. He is very wordless to their therapy.
Petter ended his career in 2018 and in December of the same year, the national team management was in a serious conversation with the legend because some warning signals about the lifestyle had arrived.
A couple of weeks later in January 2019, Petter took cocaine for the first time to get the kicks he missed as a retired skier.
- It's Petter in a nutshell, says the Norwegian length manager Vidar Löfshus in Norwegian Dagbladet about the incident.
- I have always thought that training is the best therapy for him, but I hope that he does not train all day and night, it would be a disaster, says Löfshus.