Pallen i FL-600 under premieutdelinga i Alta onsdag ettermiddag. Fra venstre: Eskil Knag (#2), Harald Tunheim (#1) og Jan-Kåre Heiberg (#3). Foto: Marit L. Abrahamsen

Norwegian and Finnish national anthems, broad smiles and great atmosphere marked the atmosphere downtown Alta Wednesday afternoon as the award ceremony for the World Championship medals was held there.

World Champion in the FL-600 RNB, Matti Salmi from Finland, was the first person to enter the podium, cheered on by a massive appolause from the audience. He’d participated in the RNB class for pure-breed polar dogs and was followed by Stephane Robert (#2) and  Bente Sofie Alhaug (#3) in the IFSS World Championship 2023.

Harald Tunheim won the FL-600 ahead of Eskil Knag (#2) and Jan-Kåre Heiberg (#3). After the gold, silver and bronze medals were handed out, the mushers got to say a few words to the audience. Dogs and handlers were applauded and received their well-deserved thanks, before Heiberg got to finish it all off:

“I want to add one more thing: Harald Tunheim, you are my role model!”

These are the prizes:

FL-600 winner Harald Tunheim gets to spend the victory night in a suite at Scandic Alta and have a three-course dinner together with the Hotel Director and specially invited guests. The prize is provided by Scandic Alta. In addition to a NOK 33,000 monetary award, Tunheim also receives a Polaris Sportsman 570 EPS Agri Pro worth NOK 118,475, provided by Polaris Norway. He further receiveds a gift card from Appetitt dog food worth NOK 4,000, a Laika dog backpack worth NOK 3,400 provided by Arctic Lavvo, as well as a piece of glass art from a North Norwegian glass artist, provided by Arctic Glass Studio.

Eskil Knag, 2nd across the finish line of the FL-600, receives NOK 24,000 in money, a gift card from Appetitt worth NOK 4 000, a Laika dog backpack worth NOK 3 400 provided by Arctic Lavvo, as well as a piece of glass art from a North Norwegian glass artist, provided by Arctic Glass Studio.

Jan-Kåre Heiberg, 3rd across the finish line, gets NOK 17,000 as well as a gift card from Appetitt dog food worth NOK 3,000, a Laika dog backpack worth NOK 3,400 provided by Arctic Lavvo, as well as a piece of glass art from a North Norwegian glass artist, provided by Arctic Glass Studio.

Mushers finishing 4th to 8th in the race all receive a monetary prize and a gift card from Appetitt, while the mushers finishing 9th to 20th also get a monetary prize.

This year’s Rookie of the Year (ROTY) was Eskil Knag, finishing 2nd. He receives a dog sled provided from Oinakka. Ole Wingren from Finland was the best foreign musher, and for that he receives a Sami knife, provided by Sparebank1 Nord-Norge. Matti Salmi, Torkil Hansen and Aila Sarre all receive a picture made from wool for having completed their 5th Finnmark Race ever.

The last team to cross the finish line receives a dog house provided by Axis. Who the winner is, however, is not yet clear at the time of writing as there are still teams out on the trail.