FasterSkier

Tag: Jenny Hansson

  • Årefjällsloppet becomes Swix Ski Classics Final

    Årefjällsloppet becomes Swix Ski Classics Final

    The 7.5 category at Årefjällsloppet will be Swix Ski Classics Final 2013. Årefjällsloppet is Sweden’s new international long-distance cross-country ski race and will be held by the end of March. The race have an easy track profile, very similar to Vasaloppet and everyone can participate. Panoramic sceneries and the finish line in the center of Åre will make this a spectacular race. After the final the prizes and prize money will be awarded, and “The Swix Ski Classics champions” will be crowned.

    “It’s incredibly motivating to do an international long distance race at home,” says Jenny Hansson, Swix Ski Classics Champion 2012

    Årefjällsloppet is a complete ski weekend starting with Thursday’s press conference, ending with a banquet Saturday night. For more information seewww.arefjallsloppet.com


  • Brink Wins Second Consecutive Vasaloppet, Hansson Finally Gets The Win

    The 87th Vasaloppet took place Sunday, with over 14,000 skiers taking part in the historic 90 k race from Salen to Mora, Sweden.

    Norway’s Torjus Borsheim took the early lead, winning three intermediate sprints, and holding at one point a two-minute lead over the rest of the field.

    However, three members of Team Xtra Personnel, Norway’s premiere marathon racing team, Arne Post, Anders Aukland and Jerry Ahrlin, along with Czech Stanislav Rezac took the lead. Post quickly dropped from the pack, and was replaced by Jorgen Brink, who had suffered a broken pole earlier in the race.

    Brink, skiing for Hudiksvalls IF and Team United Bakeries not only bounced back to make contact, but took the lead to the finish, and was closely challenged only by Rezac, who ended up second.

    Ahrlin crossed the line third, five seconds behind Brink, while Aukland was fourth, 11 seconds back.

    The victory is Brinks’ second consecutive at the prestigious event – in 2010 he won by a narrow margin over Norwegian Daniel Tynell. And at 37 years of age, Brink also becomes the oldest winner in event history.

    “To win the Vasaloppet is something you dream about, and to do it twice is amazing,” said Brink to SVT, a Swedish news outlet after the race.

    While Brink has emerged as an excellent marathon skier, he is perhaps best known for one race. At the 2003 World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Brink, the anchor of the Swedish relay team, was given a massive lead and it was assumed he would ski for the win. Instead, he blacked out, was passed by both the Norwegian and German anchors, and barely crossed the line to give Sweden the bronze medal.

    The deep men’s field featured some recognizable World Cup names, including Swedish sprinter Teodor Peterson, who finished ninth, just ahead of Norwegian Johann Kjoelstad, who crossed the line 10th. Norwegian Simen Oestensen, who recorded two top 10 finishes in the 2011 Tour de Ski finished 15th, and three-time sprint World Cup winner Boerre Naess finished 25th.

    Meanwhile, Sweden’s Jenny Hansson won the women’s race, and gained a certain amount of redemption after finishing third in the Vasaloppet in two previous attempts.

    “I have been waiting for the perfect day and I did perfect skiing today,” Hansson said to SVT after having crossed the finish line.

    “I was fighting all the way and it is long since I have been so tired. It feels so good and I am extremely happy inside.”

    Susanne Nystrom, winner of the women’s race in 2010, and a fellow member of Team Xspirit finished second, 48 seconds back of Hansson. Sofia Bleckur of IFK Mora finished third, just over five minutes off Nystrom’s pace.

    Full Results

  • Sweden Dominates in Chinese Summer Ski Tour

    Sweden Dominates in Chinese Summer Ski Tour

    The women battle to the finish. Photo: Nordicways.com

    Skies were sunny and conditions were fair as racers competed in the fourth annual Chinese Summer Ski Tour sprint race last Monday. The 1.5 km course was constructed from snow that has been stored since the end of winter, and athletes said that the snow was surprisingly good throughout the day.

    The Chinese team was extremely pleased with the day’s results, as the team was able place a skier on the women’s podium. Jenny Hansson of Sweden took the women’s crown after Sanna Hallberg, her toughest competition in the quarterfinals, was taken out by a fall. Betty Ann Bjerkreim Nilsen of Norway placed second and China’s Wang Libo took third.

    The men's final. Photo: Nordicways.com

    Norway’s Teodor Peterson took the men’s crown, closely followed by Sweden’s Anders Hogberg as Kjetil Hagtvedt Dammen, also of Norway, filled out the podium. “It’s a little different to compete here and it feels very exotic. I’m really happy that I got the chance to come,” Peterson said of the experience.

    The skiing portion of the Summer Ski Tour concluded on Wednesday with a mixed relay that was equal parts competition and publicity stunt. The race took place indoors at Qiaobo Ice and Snow World, a year-round alpine ski facility in Beijing. The central Chinese sports network filmed the race and plans to broadcast it after coverage of the World Cup in South Africa is over, saying that the event will be “a brand new experience, appealing to the audience.”

    A victorious David Frisk (SWE) swoops up teammate Betty Ann Bjerkreim Nilsen (NOR). Photo: Nordicways.com

    The relay, run in heats, was 3km in total with each athlete on the two-person team skiing three laps of 500m. The international team of David Frisk (SWE) and Bjerkreim Nilsen finished first in the event. Sweden dominated the rest of the podium as the team of Peterson and Therese Karlsson placed second, followed by David Jansson and Jenny Hansson in third. The Swedish team of Peter Larsson and Sanna Hallberg filled out the final heat, placing fourth.

    The tour continued on Saturday as some of the athletes switched ski boots for running shoes to compete in the Lidingloppet, a 30k cross-country race.