A tight sprint duel took place between Swede Suldan Hassan and Norwegian Sondre Nordstad Noen on the home stretch of the Göteborg Half Marathon.
The two runners crossed the finish line almost simultaneously, with a time of 03.39, and it took a long time before it was clear who had won.
During the sprint duel, Nordstad Noen stretched out his arm to block Hassan. The contact made the Swede very upset.
"That's not how it's supposed to be"
I tried to get past him twice. Once with 250 meters left and it felt like I was really blocked by him, and then on the home stretch. He came in on track one and finished on, what was it, track five? That's not how it's supposed to be, says Hassan in Göteborgsposten's broadcast.
An hour after the finish, the message came that Suldan Hassan had won the race, and that Nordstad Noen was disqualified.
Norwegian anger
I have bad odds here. There are three Swedish judges. I'm Norwegian. They've been thirsty for victory among the Swedes and haven't won in many, many years. Now it was a Nordic duel. I win by six hundredths but they disqualify me to get a Swedish win. It's amateurish that the jury doesn't inform me of who won first, says Nordstad Noen.
The Federation President of Göteborg Friidrott, Eva-Lena Frick, sat on the jury that disqualified Nordstad Noen. She says that Hassan's nationality didn't influence the decision to disqualify the Norwegian.
First in 21 years
It's clear that we understand that Sondre is disappointed. We respect that and it's nothing strange with that, it would be very strange if he wasn't. But it's fair play that applies and one must relate to that, and if one doesn't, then one gets disqualified, says Frick.
Hassan's victory means the first Swedish win of the Göteborgsvarvet since 2004.
I've been both an official and a pace-setter. To finally get to win feels absolutely fantastic.
On the women's side, Norwegian Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal won, crossing the finish line with a time of 1.08.33.
