Norwegian Champion: Ole Sigleif Johansen won FL-500!

The race was a thriller all the way to the finish line, but Ole Sigleif and his seven dogs won in the end. This is the order:

1. Ole Sigleif Johansen, Rødberg, 06:10.

2. Elisabeth Edland, Nannestad, 06.16.

3. Sissel Vollan, Skorgen, 06.17.

4. Niklas Rogne, Røros, 06.24.

Experienced mushers fought to win FL-500. Ole Sigleif has participated in the Finnmark Race four times earlier, and finished twice. He has also quite a bit of experience from Alta todagers, Pasvik Trail and Tromsø Quest. Elisabeth Edland has won the Finnmark Race twice, and has several good results in the race. Sissel Vollan participated in the Finnmark Race in 2015, and came in fifth. As many others, she has experience from Femundløpet and Gausdal Maraton.

 

These three won the medals in the end in this year’s Norwegian Championship. Photo: Steinar Vik

There has been an extraordinary tight competition among Ole Sigleif Johansen, Elisabeth Edland, Sissel Vollan and Niklas Rogne in the last two legs. Sometimes a couple of mushers will compete all the way to the finish line, but it is unusual that four teams are involved.

Finally

It was a long awaited victory for the 34-year musher, who has worked hard for this. In the 2011, he was in the lead going out of the last check-point, and was in a position to win the whole race, but when the dogs stopped, he lost his winning chances.

­– Mushing is time consuming, and it felt great that all the work finally paid off, he said after crossing the finish line.

As the FL-500 winner, Johansen receives the gold in the Norwegian Championship. In addition, he wins an ATV from Polaris worth 90 000 Norwegian kroner, 33 000 Norwegian kroner, Labb dog food, and a night for two in the Scandic Alta suite.

Read more about the winner here.