Norwegian cross-country skier dies in cycling accident

A 26-year-old former junior national team cross-country skier has died in a cycling accident in Ringsaker, eastern Norway, local police confirmed on Sunday, Dagbladet reports.

Håvard Hovde, from Brumunddal in Ringsaker municipality, was killed when he veered off the road while cycling with a training group on Saturday morning. Emergency services confirmed his death at the scene.

Hovde was an active cross-country skier and had previously competed on Norway’s junior national team. In 2023, he won a bronze medal in the ski-NM relay for MjøsSki alongside teammates Jonas Vika and Mats Opsal.

Petter Skinstad, a cross-country skiing expert for TV 2, described the loss as devastating. “This is just awful. It’s heartbreaking when young, healthy people are taken in accidents,” he told the broadcaster. “The cross-country community recently lost Guro Jordheim, and now this happens again. We’re losing someone many were close to, a visible figure since his junior days.”

The accident occurred on a gently sloping stretch of road, which police said could allow for high speeds. Operational leader Frode Øverås told Dagbladet shortly after the incident that the terrain was “not particularly steep but sloped downward, enabling relatively high speed.”

Hovde’s name and image were released with the consent of his family.