It was Skistad who was the strongest in Canada when she won the sprint final ahead of the Swedish trio Maja Dahlqvist, Linn Svahn and Johanna Hagström.
She also hurled a cheeky jab at her competitors, when they received a kiss from Skistad as she crossed the finish line.
– Did Viaplay do it?
Soon after, Swedish TV responded with a feature aimed at Skistad. There she is said to have been portrayed as the woman Samara Morgan in the horror film “The Ring”. So this is a character with characteristically long and black hair, a character that many will perceive as a bit creepy.
So a clip from the film was shown with sound from a Skistad victory. Stig Rune Kveen, national team coach on the women’s side, does not like the joke from the Swedes.
– Did Viaplay do it? he asks the Swedish The Express.
The newspaper confirms that the TV channel has actually done this.
Kveen goes on to say that Skistad is then portrayed incorrectly by the channel. He says that she is a very kind girl who means a lot to the team. He believes she is good at playing superior when it suits.
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– Bordering on disrespectful
Kveen believes Viaplay has gone too far.
– It borders on disrespectful. But if I know Kristine correctly, she chooses to let the skis do the talking. This only makes her more motivated, says the national team coach.
The main character himself gets to hear about the Viaplay feature. She says she hasn’t seen the feature, but doesn’t mind being portrayed as a character from a horror movie.
– It is a sign that you are hated, and I like that, she says to Expressen.
Apart from Svahn, only Skistad had won a freestyle sprint race in the World Cup this season. On Saturday, she took her second victory.
Skistad is the only Norwegian cross-country woman to have won the World Cup this season.
Viaplay has responded to the criticism, and blames it on the rivalry between the Swedes and the Norwegians, especially Skistad.
– That’s why we chose to make a slightly humorous interpretation of the dark, powerful threat from Norway that scares the otherwise successful little blonde Swedish squad. Kristine is such a clear opposite from arch-competitor Norway, and she is also a bit delightfully sarcastic, says Fredrik Olofsson, producer at Viaplay Sweden, to the Swedish newspaper.
He continues:
– It feels refreshing. The cross-country world needs more Skistads, so I hope and believe that she herself thought it was a fun tribute to an incredible sprinter.
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