Facts, statistics, news and trivia ahead of Vasaloppet 2022

VASALOPPET QUICK FACTS
DATE: Sunday, March 6, 2022
START: Vasaloppet start, Berga By, Sälen
START TIME: 08:00
FINISH: At the new finish line portal at the belfry in Mora
DISTANCE: 90 km, classic technique
SPECTATORS: Yes, welcome back again!
FOLLOW PARTICIPANTS: The official Vasaloppet app > 
LIVE BROADCAST: On radio, TV and streaming
FIRST RACE: Sunday, March 19, 1922
CANCELLED: 1932, 1934 and 1990
THIS IS RACE NUMBER: 98
RULING CHAMPION: Tord Asle Gjerdalen, Norway, and Lina Korsgren, Sweden
MAXIMUM NUMBER OF REGISTRANTS 2022: 15,800
RECORD NUMBER OF STARTING PARTICIPANTS: 15,709 started in 2010
MOUNTAIN PRIZE: Evertsberg 47 km
OTHER SPRINT PRICES: Smågan 11 km, Mångsbodarna 24 km, Risberg 36 km, Oxberg 62 km, Hökberg 71 km, Eldris 81 km
VISMA SKI CLASSIC CLIMB: The highest point of Vasaloppet (528 meters above sea level) 3 km
VISMA SKI CLASSICS SPRINT: Mångsbodarna 24 km, Evertsberg 47 km
THE FOUR GRAND CLASSICS RACES: Marcialonga, Jizerska50, Vasaloppet and Birkebeinerrennet. Victory in all four races, a grand slam, gives the winner 100,000 Euros (just over one million SEK). Ida Dahl won the first two races!
NEXT YEAR: Registration for Vasaloppet March 5, 2023 opens on Sunday, March 27, 2022
WEBSITE: vasaloppet.se

History
Gustav Eriksson’s adventure in Dalarna took place during the winter of 1520–21. In 1523 he was elected King of Sweden. The first Vasaloppet took place in 1922. This year will see the 98th Vasaloppet, which is also the 26th with a special competition class for women (started in 1997). Three races have been cancelled: 1932, 1934 and 1990. Since 1948 the race has always run on the first Sunday of March, except in 2015 when the race ran on the second Sunday because of the World Ski Championships in Falun.

The first live TV broadcast of Vasaloppet took place in 1966. This will be the 45th time that Vasaloppet (in part or in its entirety) is transmitted live, and it’s the 40th time that the Vasaloppet start is broadcast live on television. 1973 was the first year with a live broadcast in colour. Since 1992 Vasaloppet has been shown live every year.

In 2021, Vasaloppet ran as two elite competitions with 73 starting women and 245 men. Fast and icy surfaces and a strong tailwind contributed to record times. Norway beat Sweden among the men and Sweden beat Norway among the women: Tord Asle Gjerdalen won ahead of Anton Karlsson with the new record time of 3.28.18. The women also got a new record time when Lina Korsgren with 3.52.08 took her third Vasaloppet victory. Marit Bjørgen came second in her comeback after a three-year hiatus.

Since 1922 a total of 600,421 Vasaloppet skiers have completed the 90-kilometre Vasaloppet; put together they have covered a distance equal to 1,348 round the world trips or 70 journeys to the moon and back. The average finishing time for the 600,421 participants can be counted as 7.58.27 (average) or 7.54.13 (median).

The average skier 2022
In Vasaloppet 2022, the average age is 44.1 and the average participant has skied Vasaloppet 4 times before.

Of the registered Vasaloppet skiers in 2022, 65 percent have skied Vasaloppet before. 35 percent are skiing Vasaloppet for the first time. 17.5 percent of the registered participants in the track on Sunday are women.

The winners
The men’s victors of the last nine years have all come from Norway, while the last five women’s victors have been from Sweden. Three previous winners are in the elite group this year: Anders Aukland 2004, Andreas Nygaard 2018 and Tord Asle Gjerdalen 2021. Three of the women’s winners in recent years are also in the elite group this year: Laila Kveli 2013 and 2014, Britta Johansson Norgren 2017 and 2019 and Lina Korsgren 2018, 2020 and 2021.

Only eight different men’s victors and four different women’s victors have managed to defend their Vasaloppet win the next year. Most recently, John Kristian Dahl 2017 and Lina Korsgren 2021. Only nine times in the men’s class (since 1922) and four times in the women’s class (introduced in 1997) has the person who finished second in Vasaloppet won the race the following year.

Start list
results.vasaloppet.se/2022/?lang=EN_CAP&pid=startlist >
(The elite start group is VL0, after which there are ten additional start groups.)

Last year’s results
Vasaloppet 2021, men
1 Tord Asle Gjerdalen, Norway, 3.28.18
2 Anton Karlsson, Sockertoppen IF, 3.28.54
3 Ermil Vokuev, Russia, 3.29.19
4 Emil Persson, Östersunds SK, 3.29.54
5 Ari Luusua, Finland, 3.29.57
6 Johan Hoel, Norway, 3.29.57
7 Oskar Kardin, 3.29.59
8 Maxim Vylegzhanin, Russia, 3.30.01
9 Karstein Johaug, Norway, 3.30.02
10 Morten Eide Pedersen, Norway, 3.30.07

Vasaloppet 2021, women
1 Lina Korsgren, Åre Längdskidklubb, 3.52.08
2 Marit Bjørgen, Norway, 3.52.50
3 Ida Dahl, IFK Mora Skidklubb, 3.57.07
4 Thea Krokan Murud, Norway, 3.57.24
5 Katerina Smutná, Czech Republic, 3.58.24
6 Emilie Fleten, Norway, 3.58.28
7 Britta Johansson Norgren, Sollefteå Skidor IF, 4.00.12
8 Jenny Larsson, 4.04.07
9 Linn Sömskar, IFK Umeå, 4.04.08
10 Sofie Elebro, Östersunds SK, 4.05.26

Watch Vasaloppet 2021 as a rerun on SVT Play >

Odds
The Svenska Spel gambling site gives odds for Vasaloppet 2022.
svenskaspel.se/oddset >

Visma Ski Classics
The international cross-country cup Visma Ski Classics, broadcast live on Swedish Television, is now in its twelfth season. The overall standings currently show a Norwegian lead on the men’s side and a Swedish lead on the women’s side.

Standings right now in Visma Ski Classics Champion 2021/22, men
1 Andreas Nygaard, Team Ragde Charge, 1083 points
2 Max Novak, Team Ramudden, 961
3 Tord Asle Gjerdalen, Team XPND Fuel, 874
4 Ermil Vokuev, Russian Winter Team, 855
5 Kasper Stadaas, Team Ragde Charge, 844
6 Emil Persson, Lager 157 Ski Team, 842
7 Johannes Eklöf, Team Ramudden, 831
8 Stian Hoelgaard, Team Curira, 830
9 Herman Paus, Team Ramudden, 664
10 Morten Eide Pedersen, Team Eksjöhus, 632
11 Maxim Vylegzhanin, Russian Winter Team, 588
12 Runar Skaug Mathisen, Lager 157 Ski Team, 580
13 Marcus Johansson, Lager 157 Ski Team, 523
14 Vetle Thyli, Team Kaffebryggeriet, 522
15 Aleksandr Grebenko, Russian Winter Team, 516
16 Alexey Shemiakin, Russian Winter Team, 512
17 Eddie Edström, Lager 157 Ski Team, 491
18 Oskar Kardin, Team Ragde Charge, 469
19 Magnus Vesterheim, Team Kaffebryggeriet, 441
20 Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget, Team Eksjöhus, 430

Standings right now in Visma Ski Classics Champion 2021/22, women
1 Ida Dahl, Team Ramudden, 1454 points
2 Britta Johansson Norgren, Lager 157 Ski Team, 1384
3 Lina Korsgren, Team Ramudden, 1100
4 Astrid Øyre Slind, Team Koteng Eidissen, 840
5 Olga Tsareva, Russian Winter Team, 797
6 Anikken Gjerde Alnes, Team Ragde Charge, 731
7 Sofie Elebro, Team Næringsbanken, 720
8 Heli Heiskanen, Slavia Pojišťovna Sport Team, 662
9 Emilie Fleten, Team XPND Fuel, 649
10 Laila Kveli, Team Engcon, 600
11 Kati Roivas, Team Nordic Expérience, 554
12 Thea Krokan Murud, Lager 157 Ski Team, 551
13 Evelina Settlin, Team Engcon, 531
14 Linn Sömskar, Team Eksjöhus, 504
15 Ida Palmberg, Team Ramudden, 493
16 Julia Angelsiöö, Team Næringsbanken, 476
17 Sofia Lindberg, Team Nordic Jobs Worldwide, 446
18 Karolína Grohová, eD system Silvini Team, 417
19 Magni Smedås, Team Eksjöhus, 400
20 Marie Renée Sørum Gangsø, Team Næringsbanken, 393

Remaining races after Vasaloppet
Saturday, March 19: Birkebeinerrennet, 54 km, Rena–Lillehammer, Norway
Saturday, March 26: Årefjällsloppet, 100 km, Vålådalen, Sweden
Saturday, March 2: Reistadløpet, 50 km, Setermoen–Bardufoss, Norway
Saturday, March 9: Ylläs-Levi, 70 km, Ylläs–Levi, Finland

VISMA SKI CLASSICS >

Awards
The awards ceremony for Vasaloppet 2022 takes place at 15:00 on stage at the Vasaloppet finish line. The first prize is a gold medal, a garland, a big red Dalecarlian horse and a cheque of 98,000 SEK (for both the winning man and woman). The men’s class winner will also get the Kranskulla honorary award, an embroidered pillow (the Kransmas honorary award was awarded in Tjejvasan). The total prize sum for 2022 is 571,000 SEK.

There are seven sprint prizes for both men and women: 10,000 SEK in Evertsberg (The Hill Prize) and 5,000 SEK at the six other checkpoints; Smågan, Mångsbodarna, Risberg, Oxberg, Hökberg and Eldris.
Visma Ski Classics has a climb prize at the course’s highest point, 528 metres above sea level, three kilometres after the start. The first seven men and women to reach this height get points in the Climb Trophy cup. Visma Ski Classics also has sprint prizes for Mångsbodarna and Evertsberg. The first seven men and women to cross those checkpoints get points in the Sprint Trophy cup.

If a winner, male or female, breaks the Vasaloppet record time for their class they are awarded a 50,000 SEK record bonus.

Placement medals – gold, silver and bronze – are awarded to those who come first, second and third. Participants who finish within the winning time plus 50 percent are awarded the Vasaloppet achievement medal. 1,712 men and 116 women got the achievement medal in Vasaloppet 2020. The medal time for men was then 6.37.52 and for women 7.01.33.

Everyone who completes Vasaloppet gets a diploma and a participation medal.

Grand Slam
For last year’s season, Visma Ski Classics launched ”The Grand Classics” which includes the four big races Marcialonga in Italy, Jizerska50 in the Czech Republic, Vasaloppet in Sweden and Birkebeinerrennet in Norway. If a skier wins all four in one and the same season, they make a Grand Slam and win 100,000 Euros.

So far in history, no skier has managed to win all four races during the same season, not since Visma Ski Classics started nor before. The four races are also valued higher in Visma Ski Classics: Winners of these four races get 300 points in the overall cup, compared to 200 points for other races.

Kranskulla and Kransmas
This year’s Kranskulla is Wilma Björkman from IFK Mora (Kranskulla number 98) and Kransmas is Edvin Nilsson from Sälens IF (Kranskulla number 34).

Counties
The participant numbers from different Swedish counties in Vasaloppet 2022 were, as of February 17: Stockholm (2500), Västra Götaland (2113), Dalarna (800), Skåne (685), Uppsala (638), Jönköping (556), Västerbotten (513), Östergötland (485), Halland (415), Örebro (369), Värmland (352), Gävleborg (332), Norrbotten (325), Västernorrland (314), Jämtland (300), Västmanland (288), Kronoberg (278), Södermanland (262), Kalmar (221), Blekinge (126), Gotland (71). Alterations may be made up until the start and statistics are not final.

Nations
About 3,700 of Vasaloppet’s registered participants for 2022 represent 48 nations other than Sweden: Most come from Norway (851), Finland (507), Denmark (492), the Czech Republic (376), Germany (300), Switzerland (169), Estonia (166), Italy (147), the Netherlands (107), Austria (90), Iceland (80), France (62) and the United States (61).

Vasaloppet records
61 different men have won the 97 races. One time, in 1988, there was a shared victory. The 25 years with a women’s class have seen 15 different ladies win.

Most Vasaloppet victories on the men’s side: Nils ”Mora-Nisse” Karlsson (9 wins), Janne Stefansson (7 wins), Arthur Häggblad and Jan Ottosson (4 wins), Oskar Svärd, Daniel Tynell and Jörgen Brink and John Kristian Dahl (3 wins).

Sofia Lind has most victories, four, in the women’s class (1997, 1999, 2004 and 2005). Sofia Lind was also the top woman in 1996, the year before Vasaloppet’s official ladies class was introduced. Lina Korsgren has taken three victories.

The current record time for men is 3.28.18 (Tord Asle Gjerdalen, 2021) and for women 3.52.08 (Lina Korsgren, 2021).

Ernst Alm, who in 1922 won the very first Vasaloppet, is still the youngest male victor. He was 22 years and 18 days old when he won (born 1900-03-01). The oldest Vasaloppet victor is Jörgen Brink who was 37 years, 11 months and 23 days old when he won in 2012 (born 1974-03-10).

Youngest and oldest Vasaloppet winners among the ladies, since the official women’s class was introduced in 1997, are Sofia Lind (born 1975-09-04) and Svetlana Nagejkina (born 1965-02-02). Sofia Lind was 21 years, 5 months and 26 days old when she won in 1997 and Svetlana Nagejkina was 37 years, 1 month and 1 day old when she won in 2002. What do Britta Johansson Norgren and Marit Bjørgen have to say about this?

The smallest margin between the male and female victors was in 2007 when Elin Ek was only 4 minutes and 49 seconds after the male winner Oskar Svärd. (Best total placement for a lady was Justyna Kowalczyk in 2015, who was 71st to cross the finish line.)

Just 14 male victors and 4 female victors have won Vasaloppet on their first attempt. The latest were Petter Eliassen 2015 and Justyna Kowalczyk 2015. The one with most attempts before a first victory is Jörgen Aukland who won Vasaloppet 2008 the tenth time he participated. On the women’s side Jenny Hansson holds this ”record”: she won Vasaloppet 2011 when participating for the seventh time.

In 2013 Jörgen Aukland became history’s first Vasaloppet winner to pole his way through the whole race without using grip wax (since skate was prohibited). In 2014 Laila Kveli became the first lady to win without grip wax.

TV broadcasts around the world
Visma Ski Classics is broadcast by NRK (Norway), SVT (Sweden), NENT (Finland, Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Iceland), Czech TV (Czech Republic), JOJ channels (Slovakia), TVP (Poland), Best4sport (Lithuania), beIN Sports (Australia, Canada, USA).

Here are all the times for radio, RV and streaming of Vasaloppet on March 6, 2022

Sveriges Radio P4
07:18–14:00  Radiosporten is broadcasting Sportextra with Vasaloppet. The traditional start time is 07:18. Reporters: Martin Marhlo, Andreas Matz, Malin Rimfors, Bengt Skött, Dag Malmqvist, Peter Sundkvist, Isabell Gradin och Torgny Mogren. (As early as 1925 the fourth Vasaloppet was broadcast on the radio. Reports are saved dating back to 1937.)
http://sverigesradio.se/radiosporten

Sveriges Television SVT1 and SVT Play
07.30–12.30 Hosted by Yvette Hermundstad with race commentary provided by Jacob Hård and Anders Blomquist.  Clara Henry and Mathias Svahn are SVT’s skiing reporters.  Jörgen Brink is SVT’s elite skiing reporter. (Only viewable in Sweden.)
svtplay.se/vasaloppet >

SVT’s Vasaloppet page with features
svt.se/sport/vasaloppet >

Visma Ski Classics Play
07.45–12.30 The 98th Vasaloppet is broadcast live with English commentary by Visma Ski Classics in an international online broadcast. Viewable all over the world at a cost of 129 SEK. (Also in Apple TV and Chromecast.)
play.vismaskiclassics.com/season-xii/videos/vasaloppet-xii-90km-salen-mora-sweden >

Vasaloppet.TV
07:00–20:30 Vasaloppet is also broadcast live via Vasaloppet’s own streaming service. Follow Vasaloppet live from start to finish through our fixed cameras and our main broadcast from the finish line, packed with features, finishes and reports. Commentator: Martin Sellberg. Expert: Daniel Tynell. (Only viewable in Sweden.)
vasaloppet.tv

Number bibs and leader vests in Vasaloppet 2022
Vasaloppet has different number series for different start groups. Women have yellow number bibs. Men have white number bibs. Veterans, who have skied at least 30 races, have orange personalised number bibs. Some participants also have special vests to show that they’re in the lead of one of the Visma Ski Classics cups.

The women’s elite now has the prefix F (female) before the start number in the start lists. The men’s elite has the prefix M (male) before their start numbers in the number lists. Veterans now have the prefix V (veteran).

The first 20 women and 100 men in Vasaloppet Elit 2021 have last year’s placement as their start number, meaning F1–F20 for the women and M1–M100 for the men. Other elite women are assigned start numbers from F21 and up. Other women are assigned start numbers starting at 17000. Other elite men are assigned start numbers M101–M300. Other men are assigned start numbers starting at 1000.

Visma Ski Classics vests, women
Yellow vest CHAMPION: Ida Dahl, Team Ramudden
Green vest SPRINT: Britta Johansson Norgren, Lager 157 Ski Team
Red/black chequered vest CLIMB: Astrid Øyre Slind, Team Koteng Eidissen
Pink vest YOUTH: Ida Palmberg, Team Ramudden

Visma Ski Classics vests, men
Yellow vest CHAMPION: Andreas Nygaard, Team Ragde Charge
Green vest SPRINT: Stian Berg, Team Kaffebryggeriet
Red/black chequered vest CLIMB: Tord Asle Gjerdalen, Team XPND Fuel
Pink vest YOUTH: Max Novak, Team Ramudden
Grey vest VETERAN: Anders Aukland, Team Ragde Charge

Veterans
To call yourself a veteran you must complete a Vasaloppet and/or Öppet Spår according to Vasaloppet’s rules for 30 years (only one race per year counts). From 2020 and on you may also count Nattvasan 90. After the 2021 races, 1,122 veterans (of which 17 are ladies) have skied 30 or more races. 48 veterans have skied 50 races or more (Vasaloppet/Öppet Spår). In Vasaloppet, veterans start in their own row in start group 5 (closest to the wall).

Most races, 60, have been skied by three veterans. Bengt Eriksson of Sälens IF skied his 60th race in a row in 2013 (54 Vasaloppet and 6 Öppet Spår between 1953 and 2013). Börje Karlsson from Landsbro IF SK skied Öppet Spår 2020 – his 60th race.  Before that he’d completed 59 ”real” Vasaloppet. Gösta Lönnelid from Narkens IF skied his 60th race in Öppet Spår Monday this year.

Celebrities in Vasaloppet 2022
Marko ”Markoolio” Lehtosalo, artist
Paul Svensson, chef
Fredrik Hallgren, actor
Clara Henry, TV host, comedian, SVT’s skiing reporter (skiing with Mattias Svahn)
Ninni Schulman, author
Kjell Enhager, mental coach
Melker Andersson, chef
Paolo Barilla, Italian former race car driver with 10 F1 races, and pasta king
Lasse Beischer, actor
Dag Bredberg, former Swedish hockey champion
Anders Daun, former Swedish ski jumping champion, participated in both the Olympics and World Championships
Birger Fält, quiz show champion 1986 on the Vasaloppet topic and Vasaloppet veteran
Carina Hammarstrand, skiing multiple Winter Week races, has finished over 150 (!) races in Mora
Tomas Kaiser, former race car driver and founder of Hello Sweden
Robert Tennisberg, sports journalist
Henrik Eriksson, Vasaloppet winner in 2001
Peter Göransson, Vasaloppet winner in 1998
Erik Wickström, official Vasaloppet coach and winner of Jubileumsvasan 2022
Gunde Svan, former cross-country skier with four Olympic golds, skiing with Team Preem
Karolina Widerström, skiing radio host for Mix Megapol
Ingemar Allén, skiing radio host for Mix Megapol
Stephan Wilson, TV host, author
Aron Andersson, adventurer, uses sit-ski
Martin Söderström, mountain bike legend
Jonas Eriksson, former FIFA referee
Kati Wilhelm, German former biathlete with three Olympic golds
Per-Anders Gråberg, gallop jockey
Bjarne Emanuelsson and Lasse Ruberg, skiing on tandem skis – for the 23rd year together

Trivia
Every Vasaloppet skier loses an average of 3 kg during a race, which means that about 24,000 Vasaloppet skiers are ”missing” after the 97 races.

Your length shortens during Vasaloppet. The discs in your spine compress and the arch of your foot flattens. During a Vasaloppet, the skiers shrink by a combined 220 metres.

Vasaloppet skiers produce so much energy that it could light 884,000 low-energy lamps (15 W) or about 2 million LED-lights.

Blueberry soup
Ekströms blueberry soup has been served in Vasaloppet since 1958. Each participant in Vasaloppet’s Winter Week drinks about 0.6 litres of blueberry soup – a combined 33,900 litres. Also 28,000 litres of Enervit sport drinks, 11,900 litres of vegetable broth and 3,100 litres of coffee are consumed at the seven checkpoints. Also consumed were 200,000 Vasaloppet buns. For all this, 500,000 paper cups are needed (which are, of course, recycled).

Time penalty
If a participant is found to have littered in or along the Vasaloppet course (which is a nature reserve) then he or she will receive a time penalty of 15 minutes. Disposing of litter is permitted in three different ways: In the bins at the Vasaloppet checkpoints; In the marked littering zones between each Vasaloppet checkpoint; Where you as a participant know that a team leader or associate will pick up what you throw. For elite skiers Vasaloppet holds special dialogue, requiring that each team takes responsibility for, and picks up, any of their waste that is thrown along the track.

Competition Jury
Vasaloppet’s competition jury consists of TD Thomas Granlund, assistant TD Stefan Bygdesson as well as competition managers Bo Johansson and Annlouise Almqvist.

Weather
The lowest temperature at a Vasaloppet start in Sälen was -30 degrees C, measured in 1935 and 1987. The highest starting temperature, +4.5 degrees C, was in 2015. Over the 97 years that Vasaloppet has run, it’s been below zero at the start 84 times.

Train
A special direct train with Vasaloppet participants runs from Malmö via Gothenburg and Stockholm to Mora.
direkttag-med-snalltaget >

The Summer Week 2022
Vasaloppet doesn’t just have a Winter Week. Since 2009 there’s also a Vasaloppet Summer Week with twelve mountain bike and running races, such as Cykelvasan 90 and Ultravasan 90. See the complete list of races below.

Vasaloppstrippeln x3
Vasaloppstrippeln means completing three different types of Vasaloppet during one and the same calendar year. The participant skis in Vasaloppet’s Winter Week and runs and bikes the same distance in Vasaloppet’s Summer Week in August. The distances are 90, 45 or 30 kilometres.

Results
Start lists, live results and results lists can be found here >

Programme/calendar: Everything happening around Vasaloppet 2022
programme/calendar >

Registering for Vasaloppet’s Winter Week 2023 – train all year
Registration for Vasaloppet 2023 and the other Vasaloppet Winter Week 2023 races opens on Sunday, March 27 at 09:00 on vasaloppet.se

More facts about Vasaloppet can be found in the 148-page Vasaloppet Facts Guide 2022, which can also be read online (Swedish only)
FACTS GUIDE >