Scandinavian Snapshot: How Team Danmark & Olympiatoppen Are (and Aren’t) Readying for AI
Sport Science 3.0: Lessons in AI Adoption from Scandinavia’s High-Performance Frontlines
It was a telling moment.
We walked past one vacant sport science lab after another—VO2 equipment untouched, force plates gathering dust. These spaces once pulsed with activity, representing the pinnacle of high-performance sport science. But now, they feel more like museums of a fading era.
Meanwhile, in a small meeting room down the hall, I was with Norway’s AI task force. And the conversation? Anything but dusty.
Why I Went?
I was in the region to spend time at the University of Agder (UiA), where I hold an adjunct professorship. Knowing I’d be nearby, I reached out to old colleagues across Scandinavia to see if they wanted to hear about our work at Athletica—a decade-long journey in building AI-assisted coaching.
It turned out that just months before, CEOs at both Team Danmark and Olympiatoppen had released internal mandates calling for focused exploration of AI. The timing couldn’t have been better.
Team Danmark: Cost, Risk, and the Build vs. Partner Question
In Copenhagen, I met with Peter Christensen and his team. We had a rich exchange—open, inquisitive, thoughtful.
But the key tension was clear: "What will this cost us to build?"
The rough math is sobering. Starting from scratch, an NSO might face:
A 5+ year development timeline
Millions of dollars in funding
No guarantee of success
In contrast, I shared that Athletica’s system is already up and running. It’s built on validated science, with battle-tested algorithms, and could be white-labeled or adapted for their unique needs—for a fraction of the cost and time.
Peter got it. The conversation left the door open for continued collaboration.
Olympiatoppen: Full Throttle Toward Sport Science 3.0
My day in Oslo with Professor Thomas Losnegard and the Olympiatoppen team was intense and energizing.
We began with a 2-hour think-tank session alongside their AI task force, including Ingrid Eythorsdottir—a PhD in AI as applied to high performance. The questions were pointed and sophisticated. It was clear they were not just exploring AI; they were embracing it.
Later that day, I delivered a lecture at Norges Idrettshøgskole (NIH) titled: Introducing Sport Science 3.0: Integrating Technology and AI with Foundational Knowledge.
And here came a pivotal moment:
When I presented Andrea Zignoli’s paper on the computational pathways of knowledge, you could see it land. Professors and practitioners alike had an aha moment. For a country like Norway—with its depth in applied sport science and openness to innovation—the potential was obvious.
With proper adoption, the whole tide could rise:
Access to good training spreads
Talent development improves
Coaches level up, even at the elite tier
And crucially, a new generation of hybrid coaches emerges: those who understand the tech and know where their human touch matters most.
European Readiness: Vision vs. Execution
From these visits, I built a quick snapshot of how two of Europe’s top high-performance centres are positioned:
Both understand that AI is coming. But their paths diverge:
Team Danmark is weighing risk and cost
Olympiatoppen is sprinting ahead
The FOMO Factor for Other National Sporting Organizations
Why share all this? Because there’s a message here for other National Sporting Organisations (NSOs):
If you're not already thinking about AI-assisted coaching, you're behind.
Adoption isn’t about novelty. It’s about readiness:
To offer better support to more athletes
To reduce cognitive load on coaching staff
To make high-quality guidance scalable and adaptive
Early adopters don’t just gain a tech advantage—they build data flywheels, learning loops, and staff who are fluent in AI collaboration. That’s the real moat.
Final Thoughts: Protecting the Moat
At Athletica, we’re not chasing hype. We’re building quietly, scientifically, and with intent.
The conversations in Scandinavia affirmed something for me:
We don’t need to convince everyone. Just the right ones.
We’ll stay close to those ready to move, offer partnerships where it makes sense, and support this global transition into Sport Science 3.0.
And to the early movers? You won’t just train better athletes. You’ll train a better generation of coaches.
If you're an NSO executive or performance director looking to shortcut the 5-year, multi-million-dollar AI journey, reach out. Let’s talk about how we can help you get there faster—without sacrificing rigour or control.