– In an almost miraculous way, Petter Northug managed to make the outside world more or less forget the night as a careless, drunk driver. It’s much harder now, I think Expressen commentator Tomas Pettersson.
– It will be much harder to wash away the stamp as a stupid drug addict.
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The press conference with Petter Northug was the big news in Norway on Friday. The former ski king appeared ashamed and remorseful. Last week he was driving at over 200 kilometers per hour and the police found 10 grams of cocaine in his home.
– I have a serious substance abuse problem, the 34-year-old declared at the press conference.
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Tomas Pettersson has followed Northug closely for many years. He is among the leading ski voices in Sweden. And he does not put two fingers in between in a newspaper comment:
– Naturally, we can partly understand the reasons why Petter Northug ended up in his private hell. That life became grayer and duller – and filled with fewer natural kicks than before. But there are levels in hell. And using cocaine definitely sends you closer to the stove, writes Pettersson.
He refers to Northug’s drunk driving in 2014 and that he was subsequently forgiven when he lay down flat. He is not as convinced that the star has his words intact now:
– Why should we believe in a stupid addict? he asks.
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For the record: “Drug addict” was a word Northug himself used during the press conference.
Pettersson points out:
– This is the bottom of my life, says Northug. I really hope it’s right this time. Because if you sink even deeper, there is no salvation to hope for, Petter.
Aftonbladet’s expert, Oisin Cantwell, thinks Northug can expect a prison sentence.
– When the police find cocaine in his home, it’s not just about what he has in his blood. It sharpens the seriousness, and in the end also the punishment, he says.
– Last time he was sentenced to 50 days in prison, which he could serve with an anklet. Now there is a relapse, and it also looks more serious. He has been driving too fast, there is alcohol and cocaine in his blood – and there is cocaine at home. I think it will be a real prison sentence this time, says Cantwell.
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