Bente Skari herself is not too preoccupied with her prospects of making Norwegian cross-country history.

- To be honest I’m tempted to give a damn about the history books, and instead concentrate on skiing as fast as I can. That’s what counts now, Skari says in yesterday’s issue of VG.

This is not the first time she has been reminded of her golden opportunity.

- I was told I could become historic in Nagano too. However, I failed. If I do succeed this time, it’s wonderful. But, it’s not something I’m thinking about all the time. I’m much too busy with my preparations to give much thought to the historical aspect of it all, says the perfectionist from Nittedal.

Nevertheless, Skari concedes that it is a bit strange that Norwegian women have won nine individual world championship titles since 1952, but no individual Olympic gold medals during the same period.

She points out, however, that some people consider an Olympic gold medal more worth than a world championship title.

- It’s not really a bigger achievement to win an Olympic gold medal than a gold medal at a world championships. That said, I imagine winning an Olympic title must be a particularly great experience. The Olympics come only every four years, and there’s a lot of fuss in connection with Olympic competitions, says Bente Skari from the Norwegian cross-country team’s base in Sun Valley.