The biggest star has signed up!

- I am looking very much forward to coming to Finnmark and compete in the Finnmark Race. This has been a long-standing dream for me, says Dallas Seavey (30). He will be the first American to bring his own dog team to Finnmark to compete in the Finnmark Race.

The American has just signed up for the Finnmark Race 2018. Seavey is the biggest long-distance mushing profile in the world at the moment. He is also the musher with the best accumulated results over the past ten years in the Iditarod. He and his father, Mitch Seavey, have dominated the top of the list in the world’s longest sleddog race since 2012. According to Seavey, he has wanted to race FL-1200 for many years, however, as that would mean that he could not race the Iditarod he has not signed up – until now.

THE BIGGEST STAR: Dallas Seavey has registered for the Finnmark Race 2018. Photo: Private

Seavey finished second in the 2017 Iditarod, only beat by his father. In a doping control conducted on all top-finishers’ dog teams following their finishing the Iditarod, four of his dogs were found to have ingested an illegal substance. The case has flooded the US media and also been hotly debated in Norway. It is important for the Finnmark Race to get the facts and the correct message out in relation to Seavey’s now participating in our race.

- Dallas Seavey has not been convicted for breaching the Iditarod doping regulations. The case is dismissed. He is not excluded from participation in the Iditarod, but has chosen to withdraw from the 2018 Iditarod, says Trond Anton Andersen, Communications Manager at the Finnmark Race.

- The Iditarod and the Finnmark Race are not run by the same organisation nor the same doping regulations. We are subject to the Norwegian Sleddog Association and the IFSS, which in turn are subject to the WADC, the World Anti-Doping Code. We have been in touch with the leader of the IFSS anti-doping committee. They emphasize that the participant has not been found guilty of any misconduct and he is free to sign up for any IFSS race he may want to, Andersen explains. He is happy to note that the ‘new’ FL-1200 race has the best line-up ever. – Prior to Seavey’s registration we had 10 genuine winner candidates signed up for our longest race, and there have never been so many before. When the best American musher comes across the pond and brings his own dogs, that bodes for a lot of fun, Andersen claims.

- It will be the best Finnmark Race ever, says Managing Director Svanhild Pedersen of the Finnmark Race. The fact that Seavey comes is a recognition of the race and boosts our status, says Pedersen. She is more than ready to lead the best Finnmark Race ever starting on 9 March, 2018.

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