On Saturday, the 28-year-old from Ringkollen defeated Johannes Høsflot Klæbo and the rest of the national team elite in the Norwegian Championships 50km race in Lillehammer. In the heavy conditions, Eirik Sverdrup Augdal clinched the gold in the 50km race, nearly a minute ahead of Klæbo in second place.

Finn-Hågen Krogh finished fourth at the Norwegian Championships 50km race, almost two minutes behind the winner. But the Norwegian athlete believes Augdal broke the rules. The long-distance skier from Team Eksjöhus had stopped and applied more wax after just over thirty kilometers.

Augdal himself believes he did nothing wrong. He had consulted the race organization specifically about whether it was okay to stop for re-waxing during the race and had been given the green light. Several other skiers had also done the same.

According to Langrenn.com, Krogh tells VG that he tested several pairs of skis after the race, applying new wax from a spray can.

“The glide test showed that the skis glided 15 meters further on a test stretch. There is no doubt that it makes a difference,” says Krogh.

He does not rule out that Klæbo could have won if he had also re-waxed. Klæbo closed a 20-second gap on Augdal in the last leg. In the end, there was a gap of 49.6 seconds in favor of Augdal.

Augdal’s intermediate times show that he significantly sped up from around five to six kilometers after the re-waxing. According to VG, he also went from third to first place in that stretch.

Augdal is not sure if he had any significant advantage from the re-waxing.

Augdal told Langrenn.com that he experienced a tougher period midway through the race, but his body revived towards the end of the race.

“I felt like I started very easily, but apparently, I started very fast. I had a little downer period in the middle, then picked up towards the end. In the final lap, I was quite confident that I would win if I stayed on my feet. But you never know, and that’s what’s cool about the 50 km race. You can cramp, and anything can happen in the last kilometer,” Augdal said to Langrenn.com after the victory.

The gold in the 50 km race was Augdal’s second Norwegian Championship medal in two days. On Friday, the long-distance skier from Team Eksjöhus won bronze in the 10km classic race.

Krogh does not blame Augdal, who, after all, had received clearance, but is disappointed that the jury doesn’t know the regulations.

The project leader of the Norwegian Championship, Torbjørn Broks Pettersen, admits that he and the jury were mistaken and that it is against the rules to stop and re-wax.

“The jury made a mistake and gave the wrong answer to the 4-5 who asked the question. That’s a fact. But we haven’t observed any improvement in gliding conditions. No one has complained. The result stands. It was stressful. We checked the rulebook an hour later, and the answer was wrong. I have been doing this for 25 years and still make small mistakes,” says Broks Pettersen to VG.