Vasaloppet

Vasaloppet
Jørgen Aukland, Norway, winning the 2013 men's event
Status	Active
Genre	Sports event
Date(s)	First Sunday in March
Frequency	Annually
Location(s)	Sälen–Mora
Country	Sweden
Years active	95
Inaugurated	1922 (1922)
Founder	Anders Pers
Participants	15,800
Attendance	70,200 (2015)
Budget	SEK 120 million (2012)
Activity	Cross-country skiing
Organised by	IFK Mora Sälens IF
Sponsor	Volvo IBM Preem Stadium AB
Website
www.vasaloppet.se

Vasaloppet ((Swedish) for: "The Vasa Race") is an annual long distance cross-country ski race held on the first Sunday of March. The 90 km (56 mi) course starts in the village of Sälen and ends in the town of Mora in northwestern Dalarna, Sweden. It is the oldest and longest cross-country ski race in the world as well as the one with the highest number of participants.

The race was inspired by a notable journey made by King Gustav Vasa when he was fleeing from Christian II's soldiers in 1520. The modern competition started in 1922 and it has been a part of the Worldloppet events since 1978.

In 1520, the young nobleman Gustav Ericsson Vasa was fleeing from the troops of Christian II, king of Denmark, Sweden and Norway (the Kalmar Union). Much of the Swedish nobility was in opposition to the king, and had nicknamed him Christian the Tyrant. In a move to silence the opposition, Christian invited the Swedish aristocracy to a reconciliation party in , only to have them, including Gustav's parents, massacred in what came to be known as the .

Gustav fled through Dalarna, fearing for his life if he were discovered by the king's troops. He spoke to the men of Mora at a gathering and tried to convince them to raise a levy and start a rebellion against King Christian. The men refused to join the rebellion, and Gustav started out west, toward Norway to seek refuge. However, the men in Mora changed their minds after hearing that the Danish rulers had decided to raise taxes, and now they wanted to join the rebellion with Gustav as their leader. They sent out the two best skiers in the county, two brothers from Mora, Lars and Engelbrekt, to search for him and they caught up with him at Sälen. On 6 June 1523, Gustav Vasa was crowned King of Sweden, after having defeated the Danish king Christian and dissolved the Kalmar Union. Since that day, Sweden has been an independent nation.

While Gustav skied from Mora to Sälen, the modern race is run the opposite way, finishing in Mora.

Vasaloppet is the oldest and longest cross-country ski race in the world as well as the one with the highest number of participants. The idea for the race was published in Westmanlands Läns Tidning on 10 February 1922 by Anders Pers from Mora. On 5 March 1922, the board of IFK Mora decided to organize a trial race. News paper Dagens Nyheter sponsored the race with SEK 1,000 and with finances secured the first race was held on 19 March 1922. 136 participants registered for the race and 119 started. The winner was 22 year-old Ernst Alm from Norsjö Sports Club in 7:32:49. He is also the youngest ever winner of the race.