It is not yet clear what caused Sivert Guttorm Bakken's death, and the autopsy results will take some time.
After the tragic death, high-altitude masks have been banned in Norway. National team skier Johan-Olav Botn tells VG that he ordered a similar high-altitude simulation kit, a tent that includes a mask, but it has not been delivered.
"But I won't use it," he says.
Swedish national team coach Johannes Lukas says at a digital press conference ahead of the competitions in Oberhof, starting tomorrow, that no one on the Swedish team used a high-altitude mask.
"We are confident in the structure we have," says Lukas.
The national team goes to high-altitude camps several times during the summer and fall and will be training at approximately the same altitude as it will be in Antholz before the Olympics.
"Nothing strange about that"
Sebastian Samuelsson says at the press conference that he has long had an interest in high-altitude simulation.
"It's been around for a long time and is well known in endurance sports and many people use it and there's nothing strange about it. Of course I've thought about whether I should use it, about the positive and negative aspects of it," he says.
When asked whether some athletes may choose high-altitude simulation for financial or practical reasons, instead of traveling to high-altitude camps, Samuelsson answers:
"Above all, it is practical: being able to be at home and at the same time train in lowland are the positive aspects. Then there is an ethical discussion, but it is allowed and many people use it."
Getting emotional
On Thursday, the World Cup restarts after the Christmas break and there is a special atmosphere in Oberhof:
"It feels a bit empty and you can tell from the people around you. I rode with Italian Tommaso Giacomel on the track yesterday and you could tell it had taken an incredibly hard toll on him," says Martin Ponsiluoma.
Giacomel was good friends with Bakken.
A memorial ceremony for Bakken will be held before Thursday's men's sprint race, which Samuelsson believes will be emotional.
"It absolutely will be. That's the atmosphere here in Oberhof," he says.
