The Norwegian waxers used an unauthorized machine that rolls glue in a thin layer onto the skis - a machine that was not on the list of permitted aids. Meanwhile, the American waxing team had a bottle of liquid in the waxing area, despite the fact that liquids are prohibited.
Lauri Vuorinen is the moral winner, says the Finnish race director Heikki Tonteri to Yle.
Vuorinen finished fourth in the sprint final, behind Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (Norway), Ben Ogden (USA) and Oskar Opstad Vike (Norway). According to Yle, the Finnish head coach wanted to file a protest, but the deadline had expired.
The International Ski Federation, FIS, is defending Norway. According to competition director Michal Lamplot, Norway had received permission to use the machine, but he himself had failed to inform the other nations.
They asked and got permission. The mistake is mine, he tells NRK.
As for the USA, Lamplot says they “missed” the bottle. According to the US team, the bottle contained glue remover to clean the riders’ hands and nothing that gave them any competitive advantage.
From the Swedish perspective, it is believed that the conditions have not been the same for everyone.
Norway has done nothing wrong when they asked and got the okay. But it won't be on the same terms. Now it went well for us and for many other nations. But it's clear that it should be on equal terms. When there's a miss from the organizer, it's serious, says Swedish waxing manager Anders Svanebo to Aftonbladet.
