Vasaloppet's Winter Week 2018 in numbers – registration for 2019 opens on Sunday

Statistical summary of Vasaloppet’s Winter Week 2018:

– Ten races over ten days attracted 65,955 registered participants from 70 nations this year (excluding Barnens Vasalopp). Comparing this past decade there were 66,582 registered in 2017, 68,024 registered in 2016, 67,126 in 2015, 67,435 in 2014, 66,212 in 2013, 63,142 in 2012, 59,161 in 2011, 57,560 in 2010 and 48,184 in 2009.

– 56,840 started and 3,928 aborted their races. This means that almost twice as many aborted their races in 2018 compared to 2017. But it was also an unusually cold Winter Week. 52,912 reached their finish (including the five sections of Stafettvasan), which means that this was the ninth year in a row that over 50,000 skiers reached the finish in Mora.

– Those who finished skied a combined stretch of 3,011,474 kilometres (not counting Barnens Vasalopp)! That’s equivalent to 75 trips around the planet Earth!

– About 34 percent of those starting were women and about 66 percent were men.

– 88 percent of the participants came from Sweden and 12 percent from the other 69 nations. (A new record number of nations!)

– In total, 19 skiers were disqualified in Vasaloppet for using prohibited skiing technique, and one for obstructing another participant. Ten or so participants were awarded a 15-minute time penalty due to littering. There was very little littering on the track in all races except Vasaloppet, where there was unfortunately an increase compared to last year.

– 24,982 trips were made to the start, and from the finish, on Vasaloppet’s own buses. In comparison there were 23,764 in 2017. An extensive bus organization makes things comfortable for participants and reduces the number of cars on the road during race days.

– Sveriges Television’s five-hour Vasaloppet broadcast on March 4 had an average of 1,915,000 TV viewers, which is the highest number since 2014. In total 35 percent of the population (3,378,000 viewers) watched three minutes or more of the live broadcast that Sunday morning! Already at 07:30 there were 789,000 early-bird viewers watching the initial half hour before the start. In the afternoon – when the race was summarized in the Mora studio and recreational skiers were given extra attention, with interviews in Evertsberg, Oxberg and at the finish – there were an average of 572,000 people viewing the two-hour broadcast!
Watch the SVT 56 seconds VASALOPPET summary here

– The online Broadcast on SVT Play, with reporters Johanna Ojala and Brita Zackari, had about 200,000 stream starts, and the main broadcast on SVT Play had about 211,000 stream starts.

– Tjejvasan, which was live broadcast from start to finish for the seventh year in a row, was watched by an average of 175,000 TV viewers. In total, 577,000 viewed some part of the broadcast. (The Olympic curling final, where the Swedish men’s team was competing for the first time ever, was broadcast at the same time on a different channel, drawing over a million viewers…)

– Vasaloppet’s own streaming service www.vasaloppet.tv, with live broadcasts, clips and finishes, had  total of 278,873 viewers over the course of the Winter Week.

– Vasaloppet’s website vasaloppet.se had 4,865,000 page views and 879,000 unique visitors during Vasaloppet’s Winter Week, February 23–March 4. The results page results.vasaloppet.se had 14,100,000 page views and 496,000 unique visitors during that same period. (Only counting the Vasaloppet Sunday, vasaloppet.se had 1,524,808 page views and 419,672 unique visitors, and the results page had 6,951,564.)

– The app Vasaloppet Vinter 2018 had 123,568 downloads.

– Three different nations took home the three big wreaths in Vasaloppet’s Winter Week: Andreas Nygaard from Norway won Vasaloppet’s men’s class, Lina Korsgren from Sweden won the ladies’ class (with only 96 men ahead of her) and Katerina Smutná from the Czech Republic won Tjejvasan.

– Among other high-profile skiers who reached the finish in Vasaloppet’s Winter Week 2018 were Johan Olsson, with multiple Olympic and World Championship golds in cross-country skiing. By completing Vasaloppet, coming in as the 126th man with a time of 4.47.45, he finished the fourth race in En Svensk Klassiker. Johan’s total time, counting the four En Svensk Klassiker races, was 15.07.29, which is the 10th fastest total time throughout history, according to En Svensk Klassiker.

Triathlete Annie Thorén aimed to beat the ladies’ record in En Svensk Klassiker, and managed it. She skied Öppet Spår Sunday in 6.23.33, getting a total time of 16.16.18. She improved the ladies’ record by ten minutes and 34 seconds.

Skiing legend Gunde Svan participated in Vasaloppet for the third time. He was coaching a participant in Team Preem and got a time of 10.22.02. Adventurer and inspirer Aron Anderson, who uses sit-ski, got a time of 10.05.20 in Vasaloppet. And it should be noted that Aron also completed Nattvasan one day earlier, with a time of 10.30.00!

Elite cyclist Emil Lindgren, who with seven Cykelvasan starts has never placed lower than sixth, travelled from Sälen to Mora on skis for the first time, in 6.56.24. Kalle Zackari Wahlström, who held this year’s speech in Mora church, got a time of 7.26.15. Skiing reporters Brita Zackari and Johanna Ojala both finished with a time of 11.42.39.

Her Royal Highness Princess Sofia completed Tjejvasan with a time of 3.31.14.
Watch Youtube interview clip with English subtitles

– Fastest 50-year-old (H50) in Vasaloppet 2018 was Per-Olov Svahn, from Boxholm, coming in 78th place with a time of 4.39.58. Fastest lady in D50 was Anna Svärdström, from Sundbyberg, in 39th place with a time of 5.47.01.

– Veterans are those who have skied at least 30 races (Vasaloppet or Öppet Spår). 26 men and one woman became veterans in 2018. 13 participants completed their 40th race and five completed their 50th race. 84-year-old Börje Karlsson, from Landsbro, completed his 59th Vasaloppet with a time of 11.16.07. The fastest male veteran in Vasaloppet 2018 was Mats Mattes from Edsbyn, 5.21.21, while the fastest female veteran was Eivor Johansson from Navåsen, 8.03.06.

– 3,054 gentlemen and 181 ladies got medals in Vasaloppet. Those who finish within the victor’s time plus 50 percent receive the medal. The medal time in 2018 was 6.36.54 for men and 7.02.45 for ladies.

– 24,350 participants have a chance to complete Vasaloppstrippeln 90 this year. That is how many people completed a 90-kilometre race; Vasaloppet, Öppet Spår Sunday or Öppet Spår Monday. To complete Vasaloppstrippeln 90 they must also complete Cykelvasan 90 or Cykelvasan Öppet Spår, and finally Ultravasan 90. (Nattvasan is not included as a Vasaloppstrippeln 90 race.)

– 3,193 participants completed Halvvasan. They can complete Vasaloppstrippeln 45 if they participate this summer in Cykelvasan 45 and Ultravasan 45.

– About 3,000 functionaries made all this possible! A huge thanks to them all!

– Registration for the 95th Vasaloppet and Vasaloppet’s Winter Week 2019 opens on March 18, 2018. Registration for Stafettvasan, Nattvasan and Vasaloppet opens at 09:00 and registration for Kortvasan, Tjejvasan, Öppet Spår Sunday, Öppet Spår Monday and Halvvasan opens at 10:00 on vasaloppet.se. (Registration for Blåbärsloppet, Ungdomsvasan and Barnens Vasalopp on skis opens at a later point.)

– There are right now over 20,500 registered for Vasaloppet’s Summer Week 2018!

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FACTS/Vasaloppet’s Winter Week 2018
Sponsorships/late registrations sometimes make the actual numbers below higher than the maximum number of registered participants.

Footnote: In Barnens Vasalopp on skis (for ages 3–10) there were 253 participants in Sälen and 492 in Mora, making for a total of 745.