Narve Gilje Nordås: Therese Johaug can qualify for 2028 Olympics
Therese Johaug clocked a time of 30 minutes and 51 seconds on the 10-kilometer Hytteplanmila course in Hole in October, placing her eighth on the European season list and securing her spot as the second-fastest Norwegian woman in history over the distance, vg.no reported.
Weighing Olympic Potential Against the Asphalt Toll
Narve Gilje Nordås expressed certainty that Johaug holds the physical capacity to qualify for the 2028 Olympic marathons in Los Angeles, pointing to her 1:08:43 half-marathon in Copenhagen on September 20 as evidence that a sub-2:20 marathon is within reach. Yet Nordås cautioned that the brutal, repetitive impact of pounding hard asphalt surfaces presents a major injury risk unlike anything found in cross-country skiing, where the joints avoid high-frequency shock loading.
While Nordås looks toward an Olympic timeline culminating on July 29, 2028, Johaug herself has dismissed immediate talk of competing at next year’s World Athletics Championships in Beijing. Speaking on the podcast “Gukild & Johaug,” she noted that the venue holds past Olympic memories and she has no desire to return there, according to Østlendingen. She emphasized that her primary motivation is simply testing her limits over the full 42.195-kilometer distance rather than chasing a definitive national team slot just yet.
Contasting Paths to the Marathon Debut
Johaug’s competitive schedule points directly toward the Valencia Marathon on December 6, a course widely regarded as one of the fastest in the world. Her preparation stands in contrast to fellow Norwegian runner Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal, who holds the national record on the 10km distance and plans her own marathon debut in Seville next February, Østlendingen reported. Meeting the qualification criteria remains a puzzle for Johaug, who noted that official Olympic entry standards for the discipline are expected to land around 2.23.00 to 2.24.00, potentially applied with retroactive effect.
Despite logging impressive metrics—including a 3:05 per kilometer pace during her recent 10km effort—Johaug maintains that daily family logistics and her preference for self-directed scheduling outweigh the pressures of a formal athletics federation setup. Balancing rigorous endurance training with the demands of motherhood leaves her non-committal about accepting future national team representation, treating the entire venture as an open-ended personal test rather than a fixed career comeback.
