Twenty years ago, Kristin Mürer Stemland was a cross-country skier who participated in the FIS World Cup. Each time she would finish among the first 3, her calendar after the race would inevitably include a brief interview with FIS: some brief questions, always addressed by the same person, the media coordinator Sandra Spitz.
Even today, as they remember these moments, Kristin and Sandra are part of the world of snow sports, except now with very different responsibilities: one as a sport chief and chief of the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships Trondheim 2025 and the other as director of sport and the FIS event.
Many things have changed in 20 years – for them, personally and especially for the world, which has evolved to the point of presenting two women as ultimate decision -makers for questions related to sport on the first world scene.
We sat with women responsible for sport in Trondheim 2025 to think about their trip and the role of women in snow sports over the years:
Could you have imagined, 20 years ago, be in this position? How common was it, at the time, to have women in this type of decision on major events?
Sandra Spitz: I don’t think. At that time, there were very few women involved in management roles. In addition, the teams were structured by default with men in leading positions: you would have women in competition as anhletes and perhaps a physiotherapist here or there. But I must say: I never felt uncomfortable in the Cross-Country environment.
Kristin Mürer Stemland: It was very similar to me as an art. Everyone, coaches and coaches to the service team, were mainly men. It was how things were still: with men everywhere.
What has changed the most since then? Why do we have more women now?
Sandra: In the sport and event sector, it is very difficult to reconcile work and to have a family, especially if you talk about a competition with a calendar as intense as that of the FIS World Cup. Everything comes down to the construction of the conditions that women are there. Instead, faced with a shortage of financial resources, by definition, stakeholders relied on the employment of a single person available to travel all the time: generally, a man. I don’t even think it was intentional or calculated.
So, what changes is the perception that directing a family is the role of a woman and a woman only?
Sandra: It changes. Slowly. Of course, we have many additional support measures in place: FIS, for example, provides support for athletes and team members who are mothers and who wish to bring their young children with competitions. These are baby steps but go in the right direction: on the side of the team service, for example, we see a considerable improvement. It is not yet a 50/50 division – nowhere near him – but the resources are starting to allow change.
Kristin: As a local organizing committee (loc), in Trondheim, we have something like a split of 40/60 on the labor market: more men than women, but not by a wide margin. This is the result of choices that we have made during the recruitment process and how the team has developed over the years. This led to being in charge of sport, with an assistant sport chief who is also a woman, Linda (SVENDRUD). It’s good, although there is room for more.
Sandra: There is room for more, and I also want to underline another aspect in which we can aspire to improvement: it is fantastic to see an old athlete like Kristin become this position. I hope she can be a model to show young athletes options on what to do after their competitive career. I think it is very important to keep women engaged in sport. Ideally, if they wish, while having a family.
Kristin: THANKS. It was a process. After my athlete career, it took me 10 or 12 years to decide to return to sport. Then came these world championships organized in my hometown. And I really think: my house is 300 meters from part of the 50 km cross-country course. I lost the account of the time I came out in these woods, and Granåsen has always been my house for skiing. I saw all this and I thought: “OK, it’s a unique opportunity to return something to sport that has been part of my life for so long.” And then it all started.
How do you think that athletes, teams and the global ecosystem react to have more women occupying these decision-making roles?
Kristin: I have the feeling that the Nordic family accepts women very well and is happy to have this diversified perspective, as well as the different skills they bring. I think they see the advantage.
Sandra: I agree and, frankly, I think that part of this is linked to the fact that the origins of Nordic sports are in Scandinavia, where gender equality is much better than most of the places in the world. But I also think that all the other nations have resumed this attitude, which makes the Nordic family really open to the presence of women.
We know that the teams have looked for women and that it is not always an easy process: we are always at a stage of motivation for young women, young athletes, to take a stand in a national association after having completed their careers. The situation obviously shows a little disability for women, but we must be clear about our intentions and be confident in these young athletes.
Do you agree that snow sports are in a rather special position with regard to the attention received by male and female competitions – than the situation is even more than in most sports?
Sandra: It is definitely. Cross -country television notes, for example, constantly tell us that the public is very close to a 50/50 division between men and women – it does not really depend on the circumstances: if Norway or Sweden is stronger in a sex or the other at a certain time. But the fact is: you create heroes on the side of women.
Kristin: Take Norway, for example: Thérèse (Johaug) is a name as big as Johannes (Klaebo). In most sports, when you have a man and a woman with comparable exploits, the attention paid to the men’s team tends to be much higher.
Sandra: I think it’s remarkable enough for snow sports in general, and for Nordic disciplines in particular. Ditto for the fact that we have had equal prices in the Cross-Country Fis World Cup for more than 25 years now. This is true for all FIS disciplines, with the exception of ski jump and the Nordic combination, of two disciplines in which female competitions started just a few years ago, and where we did not reach the equality of prices in the contractual obligations of the locs.
Fis works to change this by no exception. An important step was to ensure that here in the world championships, where Fa participates directly in the price basin, all disciplines pay exactly the same amount to men and women.
Kristin: In fact, it is something that we really wanted to achieve with Trondheim 2025, and we are very proud that, with FIS, we have reached this situation of equality. There was very little to discuss, really: we all think that it is an excellent sign for the years to come.