Norway is by far the strongest nation in international cross-country skiing.
In the beginning of the World Cup season, the dominance has continued and in Lillehammer at the 20 kilometer distance, nine out of ten Norwegians were at the top on the men's side.
The former biathlete Ole Einar Björndalen follows the distance closely and is critical of how the international federation Fis has handled development.
- I think it's a disaster, to put it bluntly, and Fis bears the responsibility.
The nations have a responsibility but the nations have no chance to assert themselves against the biggest, strongest nations.
Fis is responsible, they should allocate funds better, he says in SVT and draws the comparison with biathlon's equivalent, IBU:
- They are forever behind the IBU when it comes to allocating funds and resources.
The IBU has been working for 30 years to distribute funds to weaker nations and Fis should really get on their heels and see what they are going to do.
Otherwise, they can start betting on the Norway Cup instead of the World Cup.
Björndalen is supported by SVT's expert Mattias Fredriksson, who agrees that the sport will suffer if Norway takes over too much.
- Then you shouldn't punish Norway because they do a very good job, but maybe you should help the others who are a little worse off, to get closer.
I think Norway will also benefit from that in the long run, he says.