Alvar Myhlback became the youngest participant in Vasaloppet.
On Sunday, the legendary Vasaloppet was contested, where 90 kilometers were skied in traditional skiing style from Sälen to Mora.
He was not seen in the men’s competition until he was 16 years old Alvar Myhlbackwhich finished a fantastic eighth.
Sweden skied to victory in the men’s race Emil Perssonwhich was only 17 seconds faster than Myhlback.
– It’s great when I got to show that I belong here, Myhlback said to the Norwegian for NRK.
– It is almost inhumanly good. It’s unique, SVT expert Mathias Fredriksson comments on Myhlback’s performance for SVT.
Petter Northug also participated in the men’s race, who arrived at the finish line 10 minutes behind the winner Persson. So Myhlback also defeated Northug.
The story continues after the picture.
Emil Persson won the men’s race in the final race. EPA / AOP
Surprise medalist included
In Vasalopet, we also saw the Norwegian who took the World Championship bronze medal in the combined event at the World Championships in Planica Astrid Slind35.
Slind competed on Saturday in Planica in the women’s 30 km community start race and finished tenth there. Slind left Austria on a private plane and flew nearly 2,000 kilometers to Sweden.
He had only slept two hours before Sunday’s 90km race, but still finished fifth, which can be considered a hard performance.
Slind told Iltalehti that the sponsors paid for the private plane.
– When I heard about the flight, I thought that the opportunity to travel to the World Cup and Vasaloppet back-to-back is only once in a lifetime. It’s great that it’s happening, Slind told IL in Planica.
Astrid Slind won the Vasaloppet race last year and now took the climb prize at the highest point of the race after three kilometers. At this point, there were 100 male skiers behind him.
Slind also led the race at the beginning by more than 30 seconds, but fatigue started to show. Winner of the race Emilie Fleten started to catch up with him and finally passed. The other one was Silje Slind.
Nevertheless, Astrid Slind’s performance received praise.
– He performed fantastically at the World Championships. He deserves credit for his attacking enterprise. He said that he was in bed only at half past four, so waking up at six is not optimal, commented NRK’s expert Simen Östensen.
A total of 15,800 skiers participated in the race.
Astrid Slind won the World Championship bronze at the World Championships. PDO
Emilie Fleten celebrated winning the women’s competition EPA / AOP