Northug's Janteloppet declared bankrupt, but Davos race still planned

Petter Northug's pet project has hit the wall. The company that runs Janteloppet, the cross-country ski race built around the Norwegian great's name and personality, was declared bankrupt on Monday, Norwegian broadcaster NRK reported. The owners, however, insist the event itself will live on, with a Swiss edition already on the calendar.

46 claims and debts dating back to 2024

According to bankruptcy administrator Thomas Piro of the law firm Kvale, 46 claims totalling NOK 5,753,154 have been filed against the estate, roughly 560,000 euros. "The claims have due dates going back to April 2024," Piro said. The company had in fact been insolvent since spring 2024, and there had been repeated seizures of assets since February 2025.

Northug, a double Olympic champion and one of the defining cross-country skiers of the 2010s, owns 30 per cent of the business through his holding company. The remaining 70 per cent belongs to Recee Sports Holding. Formally, the bankruptcy only affects the operating company, the entity that organised the races and signed contracts with partners and suppliers. According to the owners, the rights to the Janteloppet brand remain in their hands, and that is what the planned relaunch rests on.

For Northug, the bankruptcy is a personal setback. The Norwegian, who won Olympic gold in the 50 km and the team sprint at Vancouver 2010 and ranks among the most successful World Championship skiers in history, built Janteloppet as his own brand. The name plays on the Law of Jante, the Scandinavian code of modesty that Northug spent much of his career gleefully defying.

Sporting decline came first

The money problems had already taken a visible toll on the race. In March 2026, organisers scrapped the elite class after failing to attract enough top skiers. Janteloppet, which was once part of the Ski Classics long-distance circuit, has since lost that status.

The event was conceived as a showcase for Northug's vision of a more entertaining, fan-focused form of cross-country racing outside the traditional FIS structures. Commercially, at least in its original form, that vision has not paid its way.

The case also says something about the wider sport. Events outside the World Cup and the established long-distance series struggle to bring together enough entry fees, sponsors and spectators, particularly when the best athletes already have packed schedules with national team and World Cup commitments.

Owners: "The brand is intact"

Those behind the race are not giving up. "The bankruptcy of the operating company is not the end of Janteloppet. The brand is intact, and the owners stand behind it," they told NRK.

Two dates are already pencilled in: a Swiss edition in Davos in December 2026, followed by a race at Hafjell in April 2027. Davos will be the first real test of whether the relaunch under a new structure can succeed where the old company failed.