Bjørnar Andersen (born 1978), commonly Bjornar in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

refrigerator A refrigerator, colloquially fridge, is a commercial and home appliance consisting of a thermally insulated compartment and a heat pump (mechanical, electronic or chemical) that transfers heat from its inside to its external environment so th ...

mechanic A mechanic is an artisan, skilled tradesperson, or technician who uses tools to build, maintain, or repair machinery, especially cars. Duties Most mechanics specialize in a particular field, such as auto body mechanics, air conditioning and r ...

and

dog musher Mushing is a sport or transport method powered by dogs. It includes carting, pulka, dog scootering, sled dog racing, skijoring, freighting, and weight pulling. More specifically, it implies the use of one or more dogs to pull a sled, most commo ...

who has won all the long-distance dog sled races in Norway, and placed fourth in the 2005 Iditarod across the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

, in his rookie outing. Andersen was born in 1978, and began competing in dog sled races in 1991. He is the nephew of

Robert Sørlie Robert Walter Sørlie (born 15 February 1958), (pronounced: /sir-lee/) commonly "Sorlie" in English, is a two-time Iditarod champion Norwegian dog musher and dog sled racer from Hurdal. Together with Kjetil Backen and his nephew, Bjørnar Ander ...

, the 2003 and 2005

Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, more commonly known as The Iditarod, is an annual long-distance sled dog race run in early March. It travels from Anchorage to Nome, entirely within the US state of Alaska. Mushers and a team of between 12 ...

champion, and together with Kjetil Backen they form Team Norway. Andersen placed third in the 300 km (200 mi) Femundløpet dog sled race in 1999, placed second in the 500 km (300 mi) Femundløpet in 2002 and 2004, and won in 2003. Andersen also won the 1,000 km (500 mi) Finnmarksløpet in 2004. Andersen finished the 1,868 km (1,161 mi) 2005 Iditarod dog sled race in 4th place with a time of 9 days, 19 hours, 50 minutes, and 38 seconds, and won the Rookie of the Year Award. This is the highest position a first-time competitor in the race has won since the first Iditarods in the 1970s, when all or most of the racers were rookies. His uncle Robert Sørlie took first place, for the second time. According to Andersen, "my biggest challenge in the 2005 Iditarod race is the fact that I am a rookie and consequently do not know the trail". (Cabela's, 2005) Andersen is a full-time refrigeration mechanic, and runs dogs in his spare time. He lives in the forests to the southeast of

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, near

Siggerud Siggerud is a village in the municipality of Ski, Norway, just a few kilometres away from the border of the municipality of Oslo where most of Siggerud's population work. Its population (2005) is 1,353, but probably over 2000 if you count the area ...

References

* Cabela's
Bjørnar Andersen
Retrieved March 16, 2005. * Team Norway (March 2, 2005)
Bjørnar Andersen
Retrieved March 16, 2005.

External links

Team Norway home page (in English)

Finnmarksløpet home page (in Norwegian, English or German)

Iditarod home page (in English)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andersen, Bjornar 1978 births Living people Norwegian dog mushers