The 100th Vasaloppet will take place on Sunday, March 3, 2024 and it will, of course, be broadcast live on Swedish Television. The race is fully booked with 15,800 participants, and the fact that it's the 100th race will be celebrated in several different ways – from start to finish.
The Ski Classics season has reached its "midpoint." The eighth race, Jizerská50 in the Czech Republic, scheduled for Sunday, February 11, has been cancelled. This means that Ski Classics' next two races will take place in Grönklitt, followed by the Ski Classics Challenger race Tjejvasan on February 24. On March 3, it's time for the highlight of the year, the 100th Vasaloppet. All these races will be broadcast live on Sveriges Television. But who will emerge victorious? Here is a brief overview of the current situation.
With three weeks left until the first race in this winter's big event, Vasaloppet's Winter Week 2024, there is significant interest in registering for the 14 races. Öppet Spår Sunday will soon reach its limit with 10,000 registered participants, and the 100th Vasaloppet has been fully booked for a long time. "It feels fantastic that the races are starting to fill up, and we look forward to welcoming 60,000 participants to a joyful celebration in the Vasaloppet Arena," says Johan Eriksson, CEO of Vasaloppet.
There is now a complete ban on fluorinated waxes in ski races sanctioned by the International Ski Federation and the Swedish Ski Federation. The rule applies to all 14 races during the Vasaloppet Winter Week 2024, both for elite skiers and recreational participants. "We will conduct random checks at the start and finish and offer the opportunity to test skis before the races. Our goal is to help everyone ski without fluorine in the Vasaloppet Arena," says Tommy Höglund, Sport Manager at Vasaloppet.
In the 100th Vasaloppet, almost 4,500 of the registered participants right now represent nations other than Sweden, which looks to be a new record. Over the years, around fifty Australians have participated in Vasaloppet. Seven Australians are on the start list for 2024. Here, one of them, Neil Wylie from Mount Lofty, 150 kilometers from Brisbane, tells us why Vasaloppet is on his bucket list.
When you've trained and prepared extensively for a race, it's not uncommon to feel a certain emptiness in the days following the finish line, a so-called "post-race blues." But there's a simple way to avoid it: make sure to have more than one race booked in your calendar!
Last year, Vasaloppet initiated the project "More women on the track" to increase gender equal participation. Things are trending positively, as can be seen in the summary of figures from the 2023 ski, cycling and running races. Compared to 2022, the proportion of participating women has increased by approximately two percentage points, and in Vasaloppet 2024, the 100th edition, there will be more women than ever before.
With 100 days left until the 100th Vasaloppet on Sunday, March 3, 2024, Vasaloppet presents the 100th Kranskulla and the 36th Kransmas: Elsa Hermansson and Gustav Johnsson, both representing IFK Mora in their sports careers and both part of the ski orienteering national team for 2023/2024.
Now, more than 40,000 participants are registered for Vasaloppet's Winter Week 2024. Here is an update summarizing, in English, some interesting news items from Vasaloppet's Swedish website this autumn. We'll see you soon!
In January 2024, the plan is for Marcus Wandt to embark on his first space trip. The Mora-born astronaut has both a Vasaloppet number bib and Vasaloppet medal packed for the journey to the International Space Station (ISS). "I like achievements and challenges and I've been skiing since I could walk. Bringing something from Vasaloppet felt obvious," says Marcus Wandt.
