World champion Astrid Oeyre Slind, who also earned a silver medal in the 2025 World Championships relay, posted a photo on her social media showing her burning her race bib from the Janteloppet in protest.
According to TV2, the 37-year-old skier expressed her strong opposition to the reduction of prize money for the female race winner to 60,000 NOK, while the male winner received a substantial prize of 500,000 NOK.
The cut in prize money was due to a low number of female participants (only 14). Following Slind's protest, the women's portion of the race was completely canceled.
It is worth noting that the founder and nominal director of the Janteloppet race is two-time Olympic champion, 13-time world champion, and two-time World Cup winner (2009/2010, 2012/2013) Petter Northug, who retired from professional sports in December 2018.
On December 3, 2024, it was reported that Northug might return to competition and was negotiating to obtain Austrian citizenship to compete in the 2026 Winter Olympics.
