“I'm not your Pole”, Ewa Sapieżyńska's book published in 2017 became a bestseller in Norway. The sociologist after years of fjords spent in the country wrote a book about how Poles are treated in it. This is a long report, which is directed to the Norwegians. He talks about how Poles are discriminated against and stigmatized by their Norwegian neighbors. In interviews about the book, the author even talks about the racism that affects newcomers from Eastern Europe. – I quote in the book Studies, which clearly show that the Norwegians consider Poles to be suitable for physical work. In the research project conducted among Norwegian employers, one says that Poles are like horses ” – said Sapieżyńska for Gazeta.pl. The very word “Pole” is considered an insult. As Arild I. Olsson, a commentator from the daily Stavanger aftenblad “wrote in 2023:” Readers with good intentions gave me to understand that I had to stop using the word Pole. It happened several times and I was told that it was offensive. It depresses me a bit because I don't mean it at all. “
The Norwegians experienced a shock after revealing the scandal
Sapieżyńska also talks about the reasons why the Norwegians look at others from above: – The distinguishing feature is the belief of the Norwegians about their own uniqueness, about the fact that they have created one of the happiest countries in the world. A country with excellent social care, extensive employee rights. A country with one of the highest levels of freedom and equality. A country that is very pleased with itself.
And from this perspective, the scandal that broke out at the world championships in ski jumpingis simply a shock for Norwegian public opinion. It is the Norwegians that not only deprives pride of medals, but also destroys the image of them as a nation better than others. And the irony of fate is the fact that Jakub Balcerski, a journalist from Poland, contributed to the disclosure of the scandal. And yet – as Sapieżyńska writes – it is the Norwegians who ask Poles for a joke, where they hold stolen bicycles, or ask them to remove their names from mailboxes, because they have a bad effect on real estate prices in the district.
Suddenly the Norwegians saw that they were not so lawful and flawless they thought about themselves so far. The more that with the scandal with the manipulations described by the Sport.pl journalist it was impossible to do as with Therese Johaug doping slip -up. At that time, an easy explanation was found that the player inadvertently smeared her mouth with an ointment for burns, which contained anabolic steroid – Clostebol. Not everyone “bought” this justification. Justyna Kowalczyk ironically referred to Johaug's slip -up in social media, showing the packaging of the ointment that the Norwegian was to use.
This time the Norwegians have no excuse
It was really hard to believe in accident. However, Kowalczyk herself had to endure the humiliation of the Norwegians many times, especially after she questioned the admission of Marit Bjoergen, who used asthma drugs, improving physical performance in healthy people. The Norwegian was sick, but this disease did not prevent her from winning 15 Olympic medals, including eight zlotys. Anyway, asthma is a very popular disease in the Norwegians. In the years 1992-2016 42, asthmatics won 61 medals in skiing. The Norwegian team took over 6,000 to the Games in Pyongyang. doses of drugs for this disease. 10 times more than, for example, Finland.
Kowalczyk, on the other hand, was presented – also in the Polish media – as the one who clings to a great player who is struggling not only with rivals, but also with the disease. And how he attacked the Polish star of the runner Petter Northug, perfectly fits in with prejudicesabout which Sapieżyńska later wrote.
This time, however, the Norwegians have no excuse for their fakes. This is no accident and not a disease. Unauthorized overall piercing is intentional, systemic actions in which many people were involved. Even more had to know that such machines came to.
Norwegians furious: other countries do the same
Anyway, you can see from the reaction of people from the Norwegian relationship that within 24 hours it was decided to change the narrative, because denying no longer makes any sense. Our experts talked about it Łukasz Jachimiak and Balcerski in an interview published on Sport.pl:
“The stupidest thing is that Aalbu [szef norweskich skoków] In such circumstances, he ensures that 100 percent is sure that fraud is a one -time, not systemic case, used for some time.
– I agree. I do not believe that Aalbu did not know about the team's combinations. I am not saying that the matter is black and white here, but I think he knew some shades of her gray. And in general, I think that since the Norwegians were convinced that they could push something like this, we have a serious hint that in jumping for a long time there have not been a lot of things that should be ordered. “
The confession to fraud caused an immediate reaction of the sponsors of the Norwegian staff. One has already withdrawn, the other ordered to remove his logo from the costumes of the national team. But it is difficult for Norwegians to part with their positive image even after they confessed to manipulation. The jumper known years ago Johan Reennte Evensen is already looking for excuses and protest of Austria, Slovenia and Poland calls “a rotten game”. More: he believes that Norway should answer with its protest, because “other countries that accused Norway of cheating during the world championships do the same.” Strong accusations without evidence. At least Evensen admitted that the Norwegians are not special.