Vasaloppet

 

Vasaloppet is a long distance cross-country ski race (ski marathon) held in northwestern Dalarna, Sweden, annually on the first Sunday of March. It is the oldest, the longest, and in popular consideration the biggest cross-country ski race in the world^{[citation needed]}. In the 80th race held on March 7, 2004 some 15,500 skiers competed in the main event, which is held over a distance of 90 kilometres between the village of Sälen and town of Mora. A total of more than 40,000 participated in one of the seven different races held during the first week of March. The race was started in 1922 being inspired by the run that the future King Gustav Vasa had made in 1520. The winner of the first race was Ernst Alm from Norsjö, who until 2002 was the youngest winner ever of the race.

History

In 1520 the young nobleman Gustav Ericsson Vasa was escaping from the troops of Christian II, king of Denmark, Sweden and Norway (the Kalmar Union). A large part of the Swedish nobility was in opposition to the king, even having nicknamed him Christian the Tyrant. In a move to silence the opposition Christian invited the Swedish aristocracy to a reconciliation party in Stockholm, only to have them, including Gustav's parents, massacred in what came to be known as the Stockholm Bloodbath. Danish and Swedish kings have at a few occasions ordered murders on their opponents, but that has never been tolerated.

Gustav was escaping through Dalarna, fearing for his life and discovery by the kings troops, when he spoke to the assembled men of Mora, trying to convince them to raise a levy and start a rebellion against king Christian. The men were not convinced and by ski, Gustav Vasa started to make his way towards Norway, to find refuge there, when he was caught up at Sälen, by two ski runners. The men in Mora had changed their minds after getting confirmation on the Stockholm events, and wanted Gustav to lead the rebellion. On June 6, 1523 Gustav Vasa was crowned king of Sweden, having beaten the Danish king Christian and dissolved the Kalmar Union. Sweden has been fully independent ever since.

Sister Races

A sister race to the Swedish Vasaloppet is held annually on the 2nd Sunday of February in Mora, Minnesota, USA. The American Vasaloppet features a 35 km and 58 km skate, a 42 km classical race, and many other events in and around the town of Mora. The first place male and female racers in the American Vasaloppet win a trip to compete in the Swedish Vasaloppet.

The Chinese Vasaloppet has been held in Changchun since 2003.

World cup race

• The Swedish Vasaloppet is a member race of the Worldloppet Ski Federation, a series of long distance cross country ski races.

• The Swedish Vasaloppet is a member race of the Cross-country skiing World Cup.

Vasaloppet week

The week preceding Vasaloppet is known as Vasaloppet week. Races held during this week include:

• KortVasan (short - 30 km)
• TjejVasan (ladies - 30 km)
• HalvVasan (half - 45 km)
• Öppet spår (non-competitive 90 km)
• StafettVasan (relay 90 km)
• SkejtVasan (free technique 30 km and 45 km).

Winners

Year	Name	Club/Nation	Time
1922	Ernst Alm	IFK Norsjö, Sweden	7:32:49
1923	Oskar Lindberg	IFK Norsjö, Sweden	6:32:41
1924	John Lindgren	IFK Umeå, Sweden	6:53:26
1925	Sven Utterström	Bodens BK, Sweden	6:03:55
1926	Per-Erik Hedlund	Malungs IF, Sweden	5:36:07
1927	Konrad Pettersson	Luleå SK, Sweden	6:19:32
1928	Per-Erik Hedlund Sven Utterström	Särna SK, Sweden Bodens BK, Sweden	5:33:23
1929	J A Persson	Arjeplogs SK, Sweden	6:38:22
1930	Verner Lundström	Arvidsjaurs IF, Sweden	6:56:30
1931	Anders Ström	IFK Mora, Sweden	6:37:47
1932	Cancelled
1933	Arthur Häggblad	IFK Umeå, Sweden	5:57:09
1934	Cancelled
1935	Arthur Häggblad	IFK Umeå, Sweden	6:08:55
1936	Sven Hansson	Lima IF, Sweden	6:31:55
1937	Arthur Häggblad	IFK Umeå, Sweden	6:05:56
1938	Elias Nilsson	Östersunds SK, Sweden	5:48:28
1939	Alfred Lif	Orsa IF, Sweden	5:35:59
1940	Arthur Häggblad	IFK Umeå, Sweden	6:23:57
1941	Mauritz Brännström	IFK Norsjö, Sweden	6:51:12
1942	Olle Wiklund	IFK Bergvik, Sweden	5:31:50
1943	Nils 'Mora-Nisse' Karlsson	IFK Mora, Sweden	5:47:10
1944	Gösta Andersson	IFK Umeå, Sweden	5:18:43
1945	Nils 'Mora-Nisse' Karlsson	IFK Mora, Sweden	6:27:59
1946	Nils 'Mora-Nisse' Karlsson	IFK Mora, Sweden	6:08:42
1947	Nils 'Mora-Nisse' Karlsson	IFK Mora, Sweden	5:59:35
1948	Nils 'Mora-Nisse' Karlsson	IFK Mora, Sweden	5:35:13
1949	Nils 'Mora-Nisse' Karlsson	IFK Mora, Sweden	5:44:09
1950	Nils 'Mora-Nisse' Karlsson	IFK Mora, Sweden	6:08:25
1951	Nils 'Mora-Nisse' Karlsson	IFK Mora, Sweden	5:27:20
1952	Sigfrid Mattsson	Skarpnäcks IF, Sweden	5:09:45
1953	Nils 'Mora-Nisse' Karlsson	IFK Mora, Sweden	5:01:55
1954	Pekka Kuvaja	Finland	6:22:51
1955	Sixten Jernberg	Lima IF, Sweden	5:27:28
1956	Sigvard Jonsson	Rossöns IK, Sweden	5:23:36
1957	Gunnar Larsson	Oxbergs IF, Sweden	6:23:40
1958	Gunnar Larsson	Oxbergs IF, Sweden	5:31:50
1959	Sune Larsson	Oxbergs IF, Sweden	5:13:28
1960	Sixten Jernberg	Lima IF, Sweden	5:13:26
1961	David Johansson	Delsbo IF, Sweden	4:45:10
1962	Janne Stefansson	Sälens IF, Sweden	5:07:46
1963	Janne Stefansson	Sälens IF, Sweden	4:56:25
1964	Janne Stefansson	Sälens IF, Sweden	5:32:07
1965	Janne Stefansson	Sälens IF, Sweden	4:35:03
1966	Janne Stefansson	Sälens IF, Sweden	5:52:38
1967	Assar Rönnlund	IFK Umeå, Sweden	5:20:22
1968	Janne Stefansson	Sälens IF, Sweden	4:39:49
1969	Janne Stefansson	Sälens IF, Sweden	4:50:07
1970	Lars-Arne Bölling	IFK Mora, Sweden	5:08:38
1971	Ole Ellefsæter	Norway	5:12:56
1972	Lars-Arne Bölling	IFK Mora, Sweden	5:35:19
1973	Pauli Siitonen	Finland	4:42:11
1974	Matti Kuosku	Högbo IF, Sweden	5:06:23
1975	Gert-Dietmar Klause	East Germany	4:20:29
1976	Matti Kuosku	Högbo IF, Sweden	4:09:07
1977	Ivan Garanin	Soviet Union	4:30:34
1978	Jean-Paul Pierrat	France	5:20:12
1979	Ola Hassis	Orsa IF, Sweden	4:05:58
1980	Walter Mayer	Austria	4:08:02
1981	Sven-Åke Lundbäck	IFK Råneå, Sweden	4:29:32
1982	Lasse Frykberg	IFK Mora, Sweden	4:28:50
1983	Konrad Hallenbarter	Switzerland	3:58:08
1984	Hans Persson	Åsarna IK, Sweden	4:14:14
1985	Bengt Hassis	Orsa IF, Sweden	4:45:43
1986	Bengt Hassis	Orsa IF, Sweden	3:48:55
1987	Anders Larsson	Bondsjöhöjden, Sweden	4:20:20
1988	Anders Blomqvist Örjan Blomqvist	IFK Lidingö, Sweden IFK Lidingö, Sweden	4:47:04
1989	Jan Ottosson	Åsarna IK, Sweden	5:09:33
1990	Cancelled
1991	Jan Ottosson	Åsarna IK, Sweden	5:07:11
1992	Jan Ottosson	Åsarna IK, Sweden	3:57:04
1993	Håkan Westin	Graningealliansen, Sweden	4:02:10
1994	Jan Ottosson	Åsarna IK, Sweden	4:06:19
1995	Sven-Erik Danielsson	Dala-Järna IK, Sweden	4:11:09
1996	Håkan Westin	Graningealliansen, Sweden	4:01:15
1997	Michail Botvinov	Austria	4:11:41
1998	Peter Göransson	Åsarna IK, Sweden	3:38:57
1999	Staffan Larsson	IFK Mora, Sweden	4:31:37
2000	Raul Olle	Estonia	4:14:38
2001	Henrik Eriksson	IFK Mora, Sweden	4:01:22
2002	Daniel Tynell	Falun/Borlänge SK, Sweden	3:58:52
2003	Oskar Svärd	Sollefteå SK, Sweden	3:58:23
2004	Anders Aukland	Norway	3:48:42
2005	Oskar Svärd	Ulricehamns IF, Sweden	3:51:47
2006	Daniel Tynell	Grycksbo IF, Sweden	4:34:09
2007	Oskar Svärd	Ulricehamns IF, Sweden	4:43:40

A few facts about the winners, as of the 2007 race:
Nils 'Mora-Nisse' Karlsson has most titles, with 9. Janne Stefansson (7), Jan Ottosson (4), Arthur Häggblad (4), Bengt Hassis (3), and Oskar Svärd (3) are the only other racers with more than two titles. Six men have two titles, including current racer Daniel Tynell.

The average winning time is 5:11:38 (a per-kilometer average of 3:28). The record winning time is 3:38:57 (2:26 per kilometer), set by Peter Göransson of Sweden in 1998. Only eight winners have finished in less than four hours. The ten fastest times include eight Swedes, one Norwegian, and one Swiss; only Oskar Svärd appears more than once in the list of the ten fastest times. Of the ten fastest times, two occurred in the 1980s, three in the 1990s, and five in the 2000s.
1. 1998: Peter Göransson (SWE) - 3:38:57
2. 2004: Anders Aukland (NOR) - 3:48:42
3. 1986: Bengt Hassis (SWE) - 3:48:55
4. 2005: Oskar Svärd (SWE) - 3:51:47
5. 1992: Jan Ottosson (SWE) - 3:57:04
6. 1983: Konrad Hallenbarter (SWI) - 3:58:08
7. 2003: Oskar Svärd (SWE) - 3:58:23
8. 2002: Daniel Tynell (SWE) - 3:58:52
9. 1996: Håkan Westin (SWE) - 4:01:15
10.2001: Henrik Eriksson (SWE) - 4:01:22

Average times per decade have declined in each ten-year span, with the sharpest drop between decade averages occurring in the 1960s, for which the average winning time was 31:45 faster than the average winning time of the 1950s. The average winning time in the 1970s was 16:07 faster than the 1960s, the 1980s average was 24:09 faster than the 1970s, and the 1990s average was 13:06 faster than the 1980s. The average winning time so far in the 2000s is only 2:59 faster than the 1990s, however.

Sweden is far and away the most prolific producer of winner, with 74 titles (including two all-Sweden ties, in 1928 and 1988), or 90% of the 82 contested races. (The race was cancelled in 1932, 1934, and 1990). Three countries have produced two winners: Finland (Pekka Kuvaja, 1954; Pauli Siitonen, 1973), Norway (Ole Ellefsæter, 1971; Anders Aukland, 2004), and Austria (Walter Mayer, 1980; Mikhail Botvinov, 1997). Five countries have produced one winner: East Germany (Gert-Dietmar Klause, 1975), the Soviet Union (Ivan Garanin, 1977), France (Jean-Paul Pierrat, 1978), Switzerland (Konrad Hallenbarter, 1983), and Estonia (Raul Olle, 2000).

Sweden won every race until 1954, when Pekka Kuvaja of Finland won the race. The next non-Swede to win was Ole Ellefsæter of Norway (1971), who kicked off a decade in which Sweden won just five titles and five other countries won the other five. Sweden won 8 of the titles in the 1980s (Austria [Mayer, 1980] and Switzerland [Hallenbarter, 1983] each won one title in that decade), and 8 more in the 1990s (Austria won one more title in that decade [Botvinov, 1997], and the race was cancelled once [1990]). In the current decade, Sweden has won five races and Estonia (Olle, 2000) and Norway (Aukland, 2004) have each won once.

See also

• List of Swedes in sports
• Tourism in Sweden
• Skiing and skiing topics

External links

• Vasaloppet - Official Swedish Site
• Vasa That! - A participant's story
• American Vasaloppet - Mora, MN, USA Race Site
• Interactive Map

En svensk klassiker
Vasaloppet | Vätternrundan | Vansbrosimningen | Lidingöloppet Öppet spår | Engelbrektsloppet

Worldloppet cross-country skiing races
Europe: Birkebeinerrennet | Dolomitenlauf | Engadin Skimarathon | Finlandia-hiihto | Jizerská padesátka | König Ludwig Lauf | Marcialonga | Tartu Maraton | La Transjurassienne | Vasaloppet America: American Birkebeiner | Keskinada Loppet | Asia: Sapporo International Ski Marathon | Australia: Kangaroo Hoppet

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