This winter, the Norwegian male team has got 7 different athletes on a BMW IBU World Cup podium, showing once more the depth of the Scandinavian powerhouse. Among those 7, Johannes Dale-Skjevdal and Endre Stroemsheim shared a long history of friendship and rivalry, having grown up almost together in the younger years, battling also with Sturla Holm Laegreid for regional and then national podiums since they have memory.

Dale-Skjevdal was the first to make some noise on the main tour, finding a spot in an already packed Norwegian team back in 2018 in Nove Mesto na Morave. We talked to him with an all-round interview ahead of the BMW IBU World Championships that will take place in the same place where it all started for him and where he wants to be a protagonist.

It was a very different journey for Stroemsheim, instead. After a less memorable debut on the main tour in 2019, compared to his friend (82nd with 4 misses in a sprint in Oslo), he had to work his way to the A-team through many seasons in the IBU Cup. After claiming the Total Score in the past winter, he managed to secure his spot in the World Cup team and eventually reached the long-sought after first individual World Cup victory this January in the Oberhof pursuit.

Will they carry on their amazing season to the World Championships? We are only a few days away from finding the answer… but if you think you know it, you can show it off on our predictor challenge!

Photos: Svoboda/IBU