“People think the Norwegian Championships gold medalist continued on freshly waxed skis after he stopped and applied a new spray glide wax.”

In the highly challenging conditions, Eirik Sverdrup Augdal secured gold in the 50km race in Lillehammer on Saturday at the Norwegian Championships. The skier won with almost a minute gap to Johannes Høsflot Klæbo in second place.

Finn-Hågen Krogh finished fourth, nearly two minutes behind the winner. However, the veteran believes Augdal broke the rules and gained an unfair competitive advantage: The long-distance skier from Team Eksjöhus had stopped and applied more glide after just over 30 kilometers. Such incidents cause controversy.

But waxing expert Roger Gråv disagrees. He has been waxing and preparing skis at an elite level for decades and is the head of the cross-country department at Sport1 Lillehammer. He is frustrated with the scandal that has arisen afterward.

“This wasn’t a surprise at all. When a deserved Norwegian Championships winner doesn’t feel like he won, it’s a bit disappointing,” says Gråv to Langrenn.com, and continues:

“Switching skis brings significant benefits. But the way this was done, you probably lose time just because of the time you stop.”

The experienced ski waxer believes the incident during the Norwegian Championships race has been misrepresented in the media.

“People who aren’t involved in this think that Eirik Sverdrup Augdal continued on freshly waxed skis after he stopped and applied a new spray glide wax. Witnesses and athletes have confirmed what was done; at best, it’s just as good as it was before. He also lost some time in connection with this before he climbed back up the list,” says Gråv.

He points out that VG claims Augdal acquired excellent skis by stopping and applying new glide after 30 kilometers, which was a game-changer regarding the race’s outcome. Both VG and Finn-Hågen Krogh speculate whether Klæbo would have won if he had also waxed or if Augdal hadn’t done it.

“VG, among others, states that skis glide 15 meters longer after the race when applying a spray glide. There’s a big difference between rewaxing in the waxing room with the right tools and a somewhat clumsy application out in the field,” explains Gråv, and adds:

“There are probably those sitting at home on the couch who don’t quite understand how a spray glide should be used and who don’t fully grasp what happened in the field during the 50km race.”

Rush in the Store

Gråv further describes the enormous demand for Augdal’s product after the Norwegian Championship gold.

“I received many messages asking about what kind of product this was because they needed it. They were a bit disappointed when I explained what was done. ‘That doesn’t work,’ everyone says. And that’s absolutely correct,” says the waxing expert.

Not in Compliance with the Rules

At the same time, there is no doubt that the jury gave the wrong message to the athletes who asked if it was okay to wax during the race. They had received clearance that it was allowed, and the race director took criticism for it.

The Norwegian Championship project manager, Torbjørn Broks Pettersen, acknowledges that he and the jury made a mistake and that it is against the rules to stop and wax during the race.

“The jury made a mistake and gave the wrong answer to the 4–5 who asked the question. That’s a fact. However, we haven’t observed any issues with glide wax. No one has complained. The result stands. It was stressful, and then you answered questions. We checked the rule book an hour later, and it was the wrong answer. I’ve been doing this for 25 years, and I still make small mistakes,” says Broks Pettersen to VG.