The fluorine wall test is not working properly.
Norway now agrees with Swedish biathlon criticism of outright fluoride bans.
– As it seems today, it is unjustified to implement the fluoride ban, says Tobias Dahl Wiener, director of the Norwegian biathlon team.
Last week, criticism was drawn from Sweden at the outright ban on the use of fluoride by the International Biathlon Union. This is due to the fact that the latest tests of the fluoride ban control device have become a new disappointment.
– As long as they don’t have a working control system, we’re very critical. We’ve been on the trip and feel like we’re not there yet and far from there. We are of the opinion that you can get your skis on by very simple means, Johan Wallstrom, development manager for the wall team of the Swedish biathlon team, told TT.
‘It’s not going to be a fair competition’
Criticism is now also directed from the Norwegian side.
– As it seems today, there is no justification for implementing a fluoride ban. If that happens, I can’t guarantee that there will be fair competition, says Tobias Dahl Wiener, director of the Norwegian biathlon team.
Early this spring, the intended control machines were tested at Bruksvallarna and in Norway’s Sjusjøen – with poor results. Recently, the same message came when a new version of the control machines were tested in Ramsau, Austria, with international experts in the wall of skis and biathlon on site.
There is a risk that skaters will gain an unauthorized advantage by riding fluorescent skates.
– This spring during tests in Sjusjøen we discovered that fluoride is easy to disguise with fluoride-free grazing. What we could not then confirm there, was whether it was possible to replicate, and whether covering grazing with fluoride would be a competitive advantage. We’ve got confirmation in Austria, says Tobias Dal Wiener.
so naive
Norway’s cross-country coach, Stein Olav Snesrud, is also disappointed with the results in Ramsau.
We were optimistic when we came down with how it works, but we saw that it’s very easy to cheat test machines and very easy to get false positives. We see that this is actually more of a challenge than we thought, he says.
The International Transport Association announced on Tuesday that it will conduct new tests of the controller in July with national confederations. After that, a final decision will be made on whether to introduce a ban on fluoride next season.
Tobias Dahl Fenre says he thinks there are two ways to go.
Spending too much time running the system, or having a chaotic transition. You might just have to jump right into it. He says.