You are clowns! raged the Swedish skier. A Czech official is also the target of insults

Shortly after reaching the finish line, he was disqualified for going off the track. But the experienced Swede refused to accept that.

“I’m disappointed. This is terrible,” commented the verdict of the jury for the Norwegian newspaper VG.

In front of journalists from the Swedish newspaper Expressen, however, he already reached for sharper expressions. He indicated that the discussion with the jury was not a pleasant experience.

“They were smiling the whole time and happy with their decision. A person is so angry that he no longer cares how he behaves. To me they are idiots. They’d rather have an Italian on the podium, because they think the Swedes and Norwegians are ruining this sport,” the 33-year-old Northerner fumed, alluding to Federico Pellegrino, who moved to the bronze position behind the Norwegian pair Johannes Hösflot Klaebo, Paal Golberg.

In an interview with the newspaper Aftonbladet, Halfvarsson called the members of the jury “clowns”.

The Swede received unpleasant news shortly after the dramatic finish. Jury punished him for the fact that on the last climb before the entrance to the stadium, he got outside the zone marked by spruce branches with one ski. He did not shorten the track in any way, but he overtook several rivals.

“I didn’t shorten anything, on the contrary, I ran a longer course than the others. I was still in the marked zone with one ski,” he defended himself.

Anders Byström, the head of the Swedish team, also supported him. “We were told that the track boundary would only apply on the descents, not the climbs. We did not receive the correct information. Although we filed a protest, nothing will change because the same jury is judging him,” Byström was angry.

Czech race director Michal Lamplot explained to Expresen that it is allowed to cross the line marked with twigs, but it is forbidden to cross the line marked with plastic triangles. But in this case, according to his explanation, it was not allowed to drive even behind coniferous branches.

“Calle called you idiots who want to put an Italian on the podium. What do you say about that?” asked Lamplot directly to the VG newspaper.

“I will not comment on that. I understand that Calle is frustrated, but he should understand that it is no fun for us to disqualify someone. But we just have to follow the rules,” Lamplot replied.

Because of the disqualification, Halfvarsson lost not only points for the World Cup, but also approximately CZK 175,000, which is the sum of the prize money from the FIS for third place and the bonus from the Swedish Federation.