Clearer regulation and continued mass start
Women and men will continue to start together in Vasaloppet 2017.
"This decision has been made in agreement with several of the elite ladies. At the same time we will clarify the rule against participants hindering one another," says Tommy Höglund, Sport Manager for Vasaloppet.
Before Vasaloppet 2016, several measures were taken to emphasize and facilitate the women’s class. Among other things, the highest ranked women were given a separate starting row within the elite group. A special pole service was introduced in the first part of the course and spurt prizes at the checkpoints were raised to the same level as for the men. An attempt was also made to create free space for the ladies to compete on the final stretch of the course. This attempt did not succeed as intended.
”We’ve now had a good dialogue with several of the elite ladies and together decided to drop that idea and instead clarify the rule that says participants must not hinder one another during the race. We will also put in extra staff to monitor and make sure the rule is enforced, in particular on the final stretch,” says Tommy Höglund.
Britta Johansson Norgren, who came second in the women’s class 2016, and Nina Lintzén, who for several years has been among Vasaloppet’s top ten, have both participated in these discussions and provided their feedback.
”The mass start in Berga by at 08:00 on the first Sunday of March is one of the sporting world’s biggest events and we want to continue being part of it. After discussion with Vasaloppet we are in complete agreement that the women’s elite class should be determined in the same way as in 2015 and earlier,” says Nina Lintzén.
”Vasaloppet’s organization made several positive changes for us elite women in this year’s race. Raising the spurt prizes, providing our own pole service on the first slope, and our own start place, shows that they want to accommodate our requests and work towards making the competition as fair as possible,” says Britta Johansson Norgren.
Disqualification could be one of the consequences if a skier breaks the rule and hinders another participant in the tracks. In the end, the Vasaloppet competition jury will determine the consequences.
”Vasaloppet is a classic competition with a rich history. At the same time it is important for us to always evolve. It feels good that we’ve decided to keep the mass start while retaining the improvements for the women’s class that we implemented last year, and clarifying the rule about hindering other participants,” says Tommy Höglund.
