!Vasaloppet!

Here's an overview of some of the high points of arguably the worlds
greatest cross country ski race. If you have never done it, then try to make
the pilgrimage. I just received an e-mail from a friend of mine there who
says that there is electricity in the air. Great anticipation for the 80th
version of Vasaloppet. I skied it on the 70th anniversary. I hope to ski the
100th at age 77. It is possible I suppose. My buddy is the only nonSwede to
ski the race 30 times. After 30 completions the Vasaloppet organization pays
your way to and from the race and there is no entry fee. He says that most
all of his company at the special dinner for these multi-timers are Swedish
farmers. They appear to "wonder" what he is doing there as a foreigner.

The video images from the air of the Vasa start are just amazing. Try to get
a video, or tune in via the race website: It'll be broadcasted live. The
mass of skiers looks like a huge colony of ants or somekind of single cell
organism spreading over the surface it rests on. For those of you with an
interest in "commercial" shortwave- in 1995 Radio Sweden interviewed me over
the telephone to get my account as a Yankee in the race. Frankly I had no
idea how to ski it, so I was very conservative. I never had skied more than
60 km. at once before that. Imagine being about one half way through a race
at 50 km. The fact that it is "flat" doesn't help much. There is little
rest. It took me over 8 hours. I think I could do it in 6.5 or 7 as I am a
strong double poler. I get penalized on the hills for my weight. A good
start from a good starting place is necessary to be able to "race" this
race. I couldn't ski my pace until 30 km.

What the following summary doesn't include is the 1994 race that I did. Then
Staffan Larsson arrived at the final km. among the race leaders. He had
double poled the entire distance with his leg in a full rigid cast. Much of
his training was done in a sit ski sled after he hurt his knee on a training
run along the Vasaloppet track.
And sadly one of the Blomquist brothers died of cancer about ten years ago.
I have a video tape of them arriving at the finish together. They look at
each other, shrug their shoulders and hoist the garland girl onto their
shoulders, carrying her with them across the finish line.

May I boldly predict a win for Stanislav Rezac this year. That's my hope,
and it is surely a possibility.

Gary Jacobson
Rosendale, NY


From: www.vasaloppet.se

The brothers Örjan and Anders Blomquist from IFK Lidingö carry the "garland
girl" Karin Värnlund over the finishing line. This is a unique event in
Vasaloppet's history. A shared victory - for the first time!

Per-Erik Särna-Hedlund and Sven Utterström tried in 1928.
Arthur Häggblad and Hjalmar Blomstedt in 1935. Mora-Nisse
Karlsson and Anders Törnkvist in 1947. But none of them were
allowed to share the victory as the finish referees could
separate them out.

So in 1988, a unique page of skiing history was written when Örjan and
Anders Blomquist succeeded in conciliating the competition jury. And what a
way to do it! This was sport and brotherly love at it's best. The moment
that the brothers crossed the line together, and with the garland girl in
their arms, is one of the finest and happiest moments in Vasaloppet's long
history. Everyone wanted the Blomquists to win Vasaloppet. Three years in a
row they been cheated of victory by nine seconds in all. And now the popular
brothers from Lidingö finally made it - as joint winners!

Record participation

At the head of the result list for Vasaloppet 2002 was
Falun-Borlänges Daniel Tynell. But after him were a further
13,826 names - a record number! This exceeded the previous
record from 1996 by 600. The last man in, some eight hours
after Tynell, was Karl Höferl from Austria.

Unique races 1922 - 1962

1922: The first Vasaloppet.
139 skiers had entered for the race. Of these 119 actually started and only
two of them broke off during the race. The surprise winner was the 22 year
old Ernst Alm from IFK Norsjö in Västerbotten, whose winning time was 7
hours 32 minutes and 49 seconds. As he finished a laurel wreath was placed
over his head by Therese Eliasson from Mora, who thus became the first
"kranskulla" (garland girl). In second place, just 5 minutes after Alm, was
Oskar Lindberg, also from IFK Norsjö.

1923: First woman in Vasaloppet
Margit Nordin from Grängesberg made skiing history as the
first woman to complete Vasaloppet. Her time was 10 hours 9
minutes and 42 seconds. Margit was acclaimed at the finish as the gifted
skier she was, but shortly afterwards it was decided that women were not
eligible to take part in the race.

1925: First live radio transmission from Vasaloppet.
Radio broadcasting began in Sweden on 1 January 1925 and
the radio service, with support from enthusiasts in the local Falun radio
club, wanted to try a direct transmission from Vasaloppet. Sven Jerring was
entrusted with reporting from the finish in Mora. Sven went on the air at
13.00 but just 30 seconds later the winner, Sven Utterström, reached the
finish! Chaos ensued, but this was the beginning of an incredible radio
epoch from Vasaloppet, with Sven at the microphone. He covered his last race
in 1973.

1928: Shared victory, but no shared jubilation!
Sweden's two best skiers, Sven "Uttern" Utterström from
Boden and Per-Erik "Särna" Hedlund, were the best of friends
and wanted to share the victory. They crossed the finishing
line side by side but the competition jury judged Hedlund the winner.
Utterström and Hedlund refused to accept the jury's decision and angrily
handed back their prizes.

1931: First Mora Winner
Vasaloppet celebrated its 10th anniversary when Mora's Anders Ström, after a
heroic spurt, gave IFK Mora its first Vasaloppet victory. Anders overtook
Hilding Olsson in a finishing dash and won with a margin of only seven
seconds.

1940: Häggblads fourth victory.
Arthur Häggblad from IFK Umeå wins Vasaloppet for the fourth
time. The always reliable Häggblad put on a burst of speed
after Oxberg, and paraded before a thrilled public over the
finishing line. Of course, this year Vasaloppet was
overshadowed by the outbreak of war. However, it was decided
to hold the race and the surplus income from Vasaloppet was
donated to Finland Aid and to Swedish soldiers serving on the country's
borders.

1943: Mora-Nisses first victory.
At the age of 25, Nils Karlsson, later known to everyone as
"Mora-Nisse", made his Vasaloppet début. He won and his
sister Elsa, who was kranskulla that year, placed the victory wreath on her
brother's shoulders.

1944: Mora-Nisse narrowly misses victory
A huge crowd waited at the finish expecting to see Mora-Nisse claim his
second victory, and the local favourite was in the lead right up to the
finishing straight. But there came a challenge from the little known Gösta
Andersson, from IFK Umeå, which led to a terrific duel. Gösta chose to move
out to the right where he got better glide. Mora-Nisse could find no reply,
and had to accept defeat, just 1 second after Gösta Andersson's
sensational victory in a new record time of 5 hours, 18 minutes and 43
seconds.

1947: Shared medal
After a tough battle, Mora-Nisse Karlsson and Anders
Törnkvist, fellow club members, decided to share the victory. Arm in arm,
they skied over the finishing line - but the competition jury nevertheless
judged Mora-Nisse the winner. "Anders is just as much the winner as I am",
said Mora-Nisse,and the pair of them went to a jeweller's to get the
prestigious winning medal cut in half!

1950: The biggest winning margin
Mora-Nisse was in great form and there was no one even close
to challenging him. His winning margin over the second man,
Martin Karlsson from Hofors, was all of 21 minutes!

1954: First foreign winner
At his fourth attempt the Finnish ski orienteerer won
Vasaloppet. Although he was not one Finland's absolute top
skiers, his staying power and technique meant that Vasaloppet suited him
perfectly. His winning margin was all of 10 minutes!

1961: New records David "Dalle" Johansson from Delsbo was
the sensational winner of the 38th Vasaloppet, a race which
began with a record - 1,444 starters - and which also finished with a new
record time. "Dalle" won with a time of 4 hours, 45 minutes and 10 seconds.
For the first time, the race start was in Berga by.

1962: Janne Stefansson's first victory
A classic race with three skiing "giants" as front runners -
Sixten Jernberg, Assar Rönnlund and Janne Stefansson. Assar
Rönnlund relaxed his grip before the Eldris checkpoint and, at the finish,
Sixten Jernberg had to yield to Janne Stefansson. A tactical triumph for the
Sälen skier.

Unique races 1965 - 2003

1965: Janne Stefansson's record time 4 hours, 45 minutes and 3 seconds. This
incredible record time - on wooden skis! - was set by Janne Stefansson who
won by a margin of over 6 minutes before Bjarne Andersson, IFK Mora.

1971: First Norwegian victory
Ole Ellefsäter won after leading for most of the race. He was barely two
minutes before Bjarne Andersson, IFK Mora, who in fact had suggested to
Ellefsäter that he should take part! After the race, the historic Norwegian
winner praised the terrific support and service he had received during the
race from the local club, IFK Mora.

1973: 50th anniversary
Vasaloppet's 50th race was won by the Finn, Pauli Siitonen, but without him
knowing it! Thomas Magnusson, from Delsbo, had a very good lead for most of
the time, but had stopped for re-waxing in Hemus. Siitonen saw no sign of
the Swedish star in front of him and thought, as he crossed the finishing
line, that he was taking second place. His joy was in no way diminished when
it became clear to him that he was, in fact, the winner of the 50th
Vasaloppet.

1975: First German victory
Gert-Dietmar Klause, from what was then East Germany (DDR),triumphed, but
displayed no particular joy at having won the world's biggest ski race. He
was very closely watched by the East German security police and made only
the very briefest comment on his victory.

1977: First Russian victory
31 year old Ivan Garanin won Vasaloppet after a burst of speed by which he
broke loose from the Finn Jorma Kinnunen in a final tussle. His time margin
was 1 minute and 13 seconds, and in third place was Orsa's Tommy Limby.

1978: First French victory
Jean-Paul Pierrat raised his arms to the sky as he came to the finish as the
first Frenchman to win Vasaloppet. It was something of a tactical triumph
for Pierrat; a thaw had set it, and he kept a very cool head in difficult
conditions. After a burst of speed in Eldris, with his first rate skis, no
one could stop the vigorous Frenchman. Pierrat won two minutes before IFK
Mora's Tommy Jönsson.

1979: Ola Hassis breaks record
Ola Hassis, from Orsa, pinned his hopes on glide wax with a
little grip wax, but he was really relying on his very strong arms. And this
was the deciding factor. In a tough fight to the finish there was no one who
could overpower Ola who set a new record of 4 hours, 5 minutes and 58
seconds.

1981: Lundbäck crowns his career
Sven-Åke Lundbäck won Olympic gold in Sapporo (1972),
World Championship gold in Lahtis (1978), as well as 10 gold
medals in the Swedish National Championships. When he now
won Vasaloppet, it was the crowning moment of a fantastic
skiing career, with victories in all the major competitions.

1982 First disqualification
The Frenchman Jean-Paul Pierrat made his mark again but,
this time, in a more negative sense. Pierrat was first over the finishing
line, but was disqualified by the competition jury after a protest. Pierrat
had changed skis during the race. Lasse Frykberg, IFK Mora, who had been
second, was declared the rightful winner.

1987: The coldest race
The thermometer showed around -30°C at the start in Berga
by when the starter, Erik Åhs, sent the skiers on their way.
Anders Larsson, from Bondsjöhöjden, won this coldest ever
Vasaloppet in a time of 4 hours, 20 minutes and twenty
seconds.

1990: Cancelled
A hard day for the Vasaloppet organisers. Extremely mild
weather had turned the snow into water on long stretches
between Sälen and Mora. For the first time in recent history
Vasaloppet had to be cancelled.

1998: A new record time
Peter Göransson from Åsarna IK wrote himself into
Vasaloppet's history with a record time of 3 hours, 38 minutes, and 57
seconds. He won a few centimetres before Staffan Larsson, IFK Mora, who had
led the race until one metre before the finish. In 2003 the record still
stands.

1999: Revenge
Staffan Larsson was back in the hunt again after the previous year's
disappointment. This time Staffan was totally uncompromising, and came to
the finish as the undisputed runaway winner in a time of 4 hours, 31 minutes
and 37 seconds. Seldom has Vasaloppet had such a popular winner.