SKI CLASSICS. Birkebeinerrennet is Norway’s pride and joy when it comes to cross-country skiing. This legendary event started in 1932 and it has become one of the most important and prestigious long distance ski races on the face of the earth. What really makes this one different from any other ski event is that the participants have to carry a 3.5 kg backpack throughout the course to honor the history of the race, and that applies to elite skiers as well.

JOHN KRISTIAN DAHL AND SERAINA BONER ARE THE KING AND QUEEN OF BIRKEBEINERRENNET 2016, Photo: Magnus Östh / Visma Ski Classics

Legend has it that in 1206, two skiers carried prince Haakon, the infant son of the deceased king Haakon Sverreson, to safety from an opposing threat by a rival faction. These skiers traveled on skis over the mountains that are now used for the race. The backpack is now a reminder of that unusual undertaking that these two brave men had to go through in order to save their future king.

The kings and queens of today’s race came from Norway and Switzerland. In women’s race, Seraina Boner even surprised herself when she was able to pass Justyna Kowalczyk and Masako Ishida who had managed to get a sizeable gap in the first long uphill from the start in Rena. In men’s race, it was a tight sprint finish between the winner John Kristian Dahl, the ever-young Anders Aukland and the current Visma Ski Classics overall leader Petter Eliassen.

Boner admitted that she expected Kowalczyk to start with all guns blazing, but she just couldn’t keep up with her in the first uphill. So, she just focused on her own performance, and later on when she caught up with the current overall leader Britta Johansson Norgren, she realized that she was going towards a podium place and possibly even all the way to the victory. Both Kowalczyk, tired from the tough Canadian Tour, and Ishida said that the last 20 kilometers of the race were challenging as they were running out of energy, but they didn’t expect Boner to catch them up. That she did, and she is now the holder of four Birkebeinerrennet titles.

Dahl said that he had recovered well from Vasaloppet, the race that he won two weeks ago. But by the same token, he revealed that it is always hard for skiers to recuperate and prepare for Birkebeinerrennet after the extremely long race with a lot of extensive double-poling. Eliassen, on the other hand, admitted that he didn’t feel that strong today, and he was happy with his third place. He was sick before Vasaloppet, but his strong performance today proved that he is going to fight tooth and nail to claim the overall Visma Ski Classics title in Åre when the final race takes place (Årefjällsloppet).
 
Aukland was very close of getting the winner’s trophy when these three skiers approached the finish line, and he even felt that he might have a chance, but Dahl was a bit faster in the last 50 meters. The 42-year old master skier admitted that doing well in Birkebeinerrennet is very important to all Norwegian skiers, and thus he was extremely happy to be on the podium again.

In the men’s youth category, the fight is still on as Stian Hoelgaard and Anders Höst finished back-to-back taking home places 15th and 17th respectively (Stanislav Rezak was tied with Hoelgaard). Only 40 points are separating these two young skiers while Hoelgaard is currently holding the pink bib. In the women’s youth bib, Emilia Lindstedt has nothing to worry about before the final race as her lead is so extensive that no one can really challenge her. In the sprint competition, Anders Nygaard has secured his victory before the last race, and today he was able to win the first sprint.

The next and final Visma Ski Classics event of the season will take place in Åre in two weeks. Årefjällsloppet invites all the VSC skiers and amateurs alike to enjoy the 65 km course in the beautiful landscape of Northern Sweden on Saturday, April 2.

The complete Birkebeinerrennet results and split times can be found at:
 www.vismaskiclassics.com

Press Release
Visma Ski Classics
Sat, March 19, 2016 2:22 pm