BY EMMANUEL OGBONNA
Ukaleq Slettemark is accustomed to pressure. As she competes on the biathlon World Cup circuit, the 25-year-old athlete from Greenland is fighting for points, form and focus as she chases qualification for the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. But in recent weeks, she says the strain of elite competition has been eclipsed by a far more unsettling source of anxiety: repeated statements by U.S. President Donald Trump expressing his desire for the United States to take control of Greenland.
Speaking from Ruhpolding, Germany, where she and her brother Sondre are racing on the World Cup tour, Slettemark described a sense of fear that has spread through her family and community back home.
“It’s terrifying,” she said. “We are imagining the worst-case scenario. My aunt is having trouble sleeping at night, and my mom broke down crying at the stadium yesterday because she’s so afraid.”
The Slettemark siblings currently compete for Greenland in international biathlon events. If they qualify for the Olympics — a decision expected next week — they would compete under the Danish flag, as Greenland does not have its own national Olympic committee and remains a semiautonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark.
Slettemark emphasized that she is an athlete, not a politician, but said the political rhetoric surrounding Greenland has become impossible to tune out. The uncertainty has made it harder to concentrate on training and racing, even as the Olympic qualification window narrows.
“People are talking about whether they might have to leave Greenland because they feel it’s becoming unsafe,” she said. “We are terrified, and we are also really angry. This is not how you speak to another country, and this is not how you treat your allies. We feel disrespected and genuinely scared.”
Trump repeated his call for U.S. control of Greenland on Wednesday, writing on social media that the United States “needs Greenland for the purpose of national security.” His remarks came ahead of a meeting involving Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Greenland’s foreign minister, Vivian Motzfeldt.
Greenland, while geographically part of North America, is a self-governing territory within Denmark, which is a member of NATO and a long-standing U.S. ally. Danish and Greenlandic leaders have repeatedly rejected the idea of any transfer of sovereignty.
For Slettemark, the issue is deeply personal. Born in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, she comes from a family steeped in biathlon. Her father, Øystein Slettemark, represented Denmark in the sport at the 2010 Winter Olympics, while her mother, Uiloq, founded the Greenland Biathlon Federation. Ukaleq herself competed for Denmark at the 2022 Winter Games, becoming a symbol of Greenland’s growing presence in winter sports despite its small population.
On the World Cup circuit, she says fellow athletes frequently ask how she is coping with the situation. While the political tension follows her daily, Slettemark is careful to separate governments from individuals.
“I’m very good friends with the U.S. athletes,” she said. “They’re all really nice people. I don’t have any anger toward them at all.”
Still, she hopes American citizens will push back against the idea of a Greenland takeover. She compared the rhetoric to the early stages of Russia’s actions in Ukraine, which ultimately led to Moscow being banned from Olympic competition after the 2022 invasion.
Slettemark said she has overheard conversations on the biathlon circuit suggesting that similar consequences should apply if the United States were to use force against Greenland.
“I’ve thought about it myself,” she said. “We’re not at that stage right now, because nothing has happened. But if it ever did, I would agree that it would be the right response.”
For now, Slettemark is trying to focus on what she can control: her skis, her rifle, and the races ahead. But as she prepares for what could be the most important competitions of her career, the political uncertainty surrounding her homeland continues to weigh heavily, turning an Olympic dream into an emotional balancing act between sport and fear for the future of home.
Original article
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