The Battle of the Brothers
Briefly summarized, this is the story of three brothers: the eldest Lars Christian, middle brother Eivind and the youngest brother Amund. All outstanding athletes, Amund and Eivind are on the national paddling team and have a cupboard full of trophies and medals, and a CV full of records and merits from international championships.
But five years ago, Amund was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. To save his life, Lars Christian gave away an organ. Amund recovered. Last winter he even set a world record on a SkiErg machine: He crushed the long-distance pros in their own field. Finally, everything is in order again, the brothers continue to work towards new achievements, each in their arenas. "How is that even possible?" most people think.
Until the lightning strikes again: This summer, middle brother Eivind is diagnosed with cancer. This time its a different, even more aggressive version, which was set in the femur. He goes through operation the end of the summer, and is preparing for the autumn with chemotherapy and radiation. The guys roll up their sleeves again: we've done this before. Bring it on.
During Eivind's fight against cancer, they meet regularly to talk shit, do something together and think about other things than illness and prognoses. The common denominator is cross-country skiing.
The road ahead
Øystein Pettersen, who himself went through a potentially life-threatening condition back in 2021 and runs the podcast "Gode dager" together with the eldest brother Lars Kristian, offers tips and advice to get the most out of the ski trips. Before this season both brothers were with Øystein and Lars Berger from the development team, and got to pick the new DP Ski straight from the development press.
In December, Eivind finished the chemotherapy regimen. So far so good. Three days after the sixth and final round, he takes a good ski trip. A little later, he set a bench press record with 160 kilograms. Again, "how is that even possible?".
Now the brothers aim for the big long-distance races, Amund aiming for top spots, and Eivind to feel the competition nerves again. After all, he has featured with good results in the biggest long-distance races in recent seasons.
Amund just recently became the Norwegian champion in rowing(!), and followed Ski Classics elite in the Budorrennet race and is competing in Marcialonga this weekend. Before the big goal awaits in March, with the Vasaloppet. In addition, the brothers reveal that there are plans for another world record attempt on a stake machine in the meantime. Again, "how is that even possible?".
Stay tuned to follow the brothers throughout this season.