– It is very tiring. I’m not interested in doing a public laundry. This was an argument with an ex’s new partner. It developed a bit, says Thomas Wærner. He is now taking part in the 1,200 kilometer long competition in the Finnmarksløpet. But in recent days it has not only been the dogs and the track that he has had to pay attention to. On Tuesday, he was reported to the police by the favorite Kristoffer Halvorsen, who broke the race at checkpoint Neiden. Halvorsen felt threatened by Thomas Wærner, and says he did not dare to drive on out of fear. There were several witnesses to the incident. news has captured the episode on video, but does not know what is being said: The management of the Finnmarksløpet have had the incident up to the jury, and concluded that there was unsportsmanlike behavior on both sides. Beyond that, nothing happened. – It was rejected, and then the sport has had its say and done the job they are supposed to do, says Wærner. – Too bad he breaks Last year, eight videos of Wærner’s team were sent to Finnmarksløpet and to Norway’s Hundekjørerforbund, to prove that he was driving with lame dogs. He was acquitted in both cases. Now Wærner believes again that there are people in the track who are filming him. And just before he drove into the checkpoint in Tana, there was again someone with a camera. – There is a reason why I reacted, says Thomas Wærner. He suspected that there was someone in Halvorsen’s team. Then came what he describes as the gagging. – I experienced it as a trifle. There were no threats. He probably experienced it differently. It is a shame that he breaks the race because of this, says Wærner. Thomas Wærner in Kirkenes. Photo: Øyvind Næss / news Shark against goldfish Favorite Kristoffer Halvorsen says he is canceling the race because Finnmarksløpet and the Norwegian Dog Racing Association are not doing anything about what happened. – That it was smacking is 100 percent a lie. There were insults and threats from one competitor to another. That is not okay. I’m not too mad at the competitor. I am really disappointed with the people responsible here. He had hoped that this would be resolved in another way. – It was such a clear situation. It’s like a shark chasing a goldfish. Where I am the goldfish, says Halvorsen. Thomas Wærner stood in the goal area and received Kristoffer Halvorsen when he came in as number two last year. Photo: Alf Harald Martinsen / news A journalist from the local newspaper iFinnmark saw the scene, and has told his own newspaper that it was only Wærner who yelled. Nevertheless, the jury concluded that it was unsportsmanlike from both parties. And they chose to drop the case. Halvorsen believes it is clear what Finnmarksløpet should have done. – It was inappropriate behavior and threats. They should have taken the athlete out of the race, or given a time penalty. Now he will not participate in any more Finnmark races. – I feel like shit. I will never go up here as long as Finnmarksløpet has the race management that it is now. Not unless I get a public apology. But I don’t think that will ever happen, says Halvorsen. Kristoffer Halvorsen is unimpressed by the handling of what he believes to be insults and threats from Thomas Wærner. Photo: Hanne Bernhardsen Nordvåg / news Will have peace The Finnmark race has WC status this year. It is the Norges Hundekjørerforbund that is responsible for this part of the event. But they do not want to comment on what has happened. Halvorsen claims he was badly treated by the union on the night of Monday. Frode Flathagen will not comment on these claims until Friday. He also does not want to comment on the warning he is said to have given the two drivers, what it is about and how it was recorded. – I now want a sporting focus out of respect for the runners we still have in the track, says Flathagen. Rita Hallvig is race leader in Finnmarksløpet. Photo: news Finnmarksløpet’s race director Rita Hallvig believes they have got a good picture of the incident based on three independent witnesses. – We have a jury, and it was a unanimous jury decision. You can’t say to a race management that “if you don’t disqualify a participant, I don’t want to take part anymore”. We have to deal with the regulations and the information available from witnesses. We have to trust someone who has been in the situation, says Hallvig. – Will there be an apology? – At least today there will be no excuse. We’ll see. We must evaluate the situation. We constantly evaluate everything that has happened, and see if there is anything we could do better. But it is a jury that decides, and we have to deal with that, says Hallvig. Thomas Wærner in Tana, where the confrontation took place. Photo: Rune Berg Affected by the situation Hundejørner Thomas Wærner admits that the quarrel and the police report affect him in the competition. In addition, the big favorite is currently struggling with a troublesome knee. He announces on Wednesday evening that he is giving up the fight for WC gold. – I want to drive to the finish line. It is important to have a good mental attitude, because this rubs off on the dogs. But the last few days I probably haven’t been mentally present, and they notice that, says Wærner at the Varangerbotn checkpoint. – I think I have to take a fairly long rest and recalculate what I have to do to reach the finish line. Then the others get to compete for the top this year.
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Thomas Wærner on the quarrel in the Finnmarksløpet – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
