Some great analogies can be made between The Swedish Vasaloppet and
American Baseball. We in the U.S. have a saying; "There's joy in
Mudville!" This saying is used after the hometown team wins. However,
not just any win. Usually, we're talking about a team that has tried
for years to win the big one but always seems to fall short. Finally,
when they reach the pinnacle and win the World Series, "There's joy in
Mudville!" Well, think of all of Norway as Mudville... After years of
trying and coming close to victory, they finally won the World's most
prestigous race, the Vasaloppet. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think
the last Norwegian to win the Vasa was Harold Gronigen in 1971. The
last decade has seen Erling Jevne and Anders Auckland have several
chances each to win the race, only to fall short. Anyway, Anders
Auckland finally put it all together and took the Victory. Making it
even better, his brother Joergen took 3rd. In my bias, I rank
victories in the following order; 1) Olympic Gold Medal, 2) Vasaloppet
Victory, 3) World Championship Gold Medal.

Here are some statistics (BTW, a baseball term is "Damm lies and
statistics.";

1) Anders Auckland NOR 3:48
2) Raul Olle EST (former Vasa Champion)
3) Joergen Auckland NOR
4) Oskar Svard SWE (last year's Vasa Champion)
5) Marco Cattaneo ITA
6) Daniel Tynell SWE (former Vasa Champion)
9) Stanislav Rezac CZE
13) Staffan Larsson SWE (former Vasa Champion)
14) Silvio Fauner ITA
27) Morten Brors (NOR)
28) Vincent Vittoz (FRA)
35) Hiroyuki Imai (JPN)
39) Mika Myllyla (FIN)
60) Fabio Maj (SWE)
590) FrontRunner (Greg Worsnop) USA 4:46

Half Vasa
Nordic Norm (John O'Connell) 3:38

Town Sprints - Where tons of cash can be made...
Raul Olle - 4 wins
Stanislav Rezac - 1 win
Norway - 2 more
Anders Auckland - 1 - the most important Town Sprint!

Jay Tegeder
"I faders spar for framtids segrar"
1996 Vasa participant - 6:43 - The World's Greatest Race!!!