Vasaloppet's Winter Week 2016 in numbers — registration for 2017 opens on Sunday

For the seventh year in a row, more than fifty thousand participants managed to complete their Winter Week races, and this year the total was 55,435 (including all Stafettvasan sections). Only 2,128 participants broke off their races, which is about half as many as last year. There were a total of 68,024 registered participants.

Statistical summary of Vasaloppet's Winter Week 2016:

– Nine races over ten days attracted 68,024 registered participants from 55 nations; a new registration record as well as a new nation record! In comparison there were 67,126 registered in 2015, 67,435 in 2014, 66,212 in 2013, 63,142 in 2012, 59,161 in 2011, 57,560 in 2010 and 48,184 in 2009.

– 57,604 started and only 2,128 aborted their races. 55,435 reached their finish (including the five sections of Stafettvasan), which means that this was the seventh year in a row that over 50,000 skiers reached the finish in Mora.

– 38% of those starting were women and 62% were men.

– 88.8% of the participants came from Sweden and 11.2 from the other 54 nations.

– Sveriges Television's five-and-a-half-hour Vasaloppet broadcast on March 6 had an average of 1,826,000 TV viewers. The finish was watched by 2,800,000 viewers. In total 37% of the population (3,509,000 viewers) watched three minutes or more of the live broadcast that Sunday morning! Already at 07:30 there were 729,000 early bird viewers watching the initial half hour before the start. In the afternoon, when the race was summarized and recreational skiers were given extra attention for roughly an hour in Vinterstudion, there were 586,000 viewers.

– Tjejvasan, which for the fifth year in a row was live broadcast from start to finish, was watched by an average of 359,000 TV viewers, close to double the number from 2015. In total 760,000 people watched some part of the broadcast.

– Vasaloppet's live stream on vasaloppet.se attracted almost 200,000 viewers and Vasaloppet's own programme Vasalopps-TV has had 120,000 viewers on YouTube.

– Vasaloppet's website vasaloppet.se had 22 million page views and 1.5 million unique visitors during Vasaloppet's Winter Week February 25–March 7.

– Norway x 3! For the first time ever, three Norwegians took the top three spots in Vasaloppet. The fourth was also from Norway.

– Among other high-profile skiers who reached the finish in Vasaloppet were the artist Marko "Markoolio" Lehtosalo 12.02.49, former downhill skiers Hans Olsson 5.06.56, Eurovision winner Måns Zelmerlöv 9.08.53, TV host Stephan "Stephan på glid" Wilson 11.57.51, SVT's skiing reporter Rickard Olsson 11.08.45, super veteran Börje Karlsson, who did his 58th Vasaloppet (a record for "real" Vasaloppet) 9.42.04, sit-skiers Anders Olsson 7.34.17 and Aron Andersson 8.13.54, hockey players Calle Johansson 6.33.11 and Andreas Dackell 5.29.03, former Olympic biathlete Michael Greis 6.06.18.

– 3,308 gentlemen and 151 ladies got medals in Vasaloppet. Those who finish within the victor's time plus 50% receive the medal. The medal time in 2016 was 6.12.00 for gents and 6.26.54 for ladies.

– In connection with this year's Vasaloppet, Järfälla resident Mikael Pettersson managed to do a Vasaloppet triple, or a "Full Gustav" of 270 km, completing Cykelvasan, Ultravasan and Vasaloppet! He started on Saturday in Sälen and biked seven hours to Mora, where he turned around and over twelve hours ran back to Sälen, where he arrived in time for the Vasaloppet start. This challenge was performed as a fundraising initiative for Världens Barn. His Vasaloppet time was 9.55.15.

– New races: In 2016 the new beginners race Öppet Spår 9 km was arranged for the first time. Vasaloppet's Winter Week 2017 introduces Nattvasan, which will be Vasaloppet's fifth new race in four years: Ultravasan 45 and Ultravasan 90 were held for the first time in the Summer Week 2014, and 2015 saw the premiere of Cykelvasan Öppet Spår.

Registration for the 93rd Vasaloppet on March 5, 2017, and the other races in Vasaloppet's Winter Week 2017 opens on March 20, 2016, at 09:00 on vasaloppet.se.

Over 19,000 are right now registered for Vasaloppet's Summer Week 2016!

FACTS/ Vasaloppet's Winter Week 2016
Sponsorships/late registrations sometimes make the actual numbers below higher than the maximum number of allowed participants. Three races set new registration records in 2016: Öppet Spår Sunday, Stafettvasan and Vasaloppet. Öppet Spår 9 km was also held for the first time.

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In addition to the statistics above there is also Barnens Vasalopp for ages 3–10: In Sälen Barnens Vasalopp registered 230 participants. In Mora there were 570 children participating.


Upcoming events in the Vasaloppet Arena

Vasaloppet Summer Week 2016
Fri 12 Aug: Cykelvasan 30. 32 km. Start Oxberg.
Fri 12 Aug: Ungdomscykelvasan. 32 km. Start Oxberg.
Fri 12 Aug: Cykelvasan 45. 45 km. Start Oxberg.
Fri 12 Aug: Cykelvasan Öppet Spår. 94 km. Start Sälen.
Sat 13 Aug: Cykelvasan 90. 94 km. Start Sälen. (13,000 entries. FULL 18/12/2015)
Sat 20 Aug: Ultravasan 45. 45 km. Start Oxberg.
Sat 20 Aug: Ultravasan 90. 90 km. Start Sälen.
Sat 20 Aug: Vasastafetten. 4.5–15 km. Running relay race for ten-person teams. Start Sälen.

Vasaloppet Winter Week 2017
Fri 24 Feb: Kortvasan. 30 km. Start Oxberg.
Sat 25 Feb: Tjejvasan. 30 km. Start Oxberg.
Sun 26 Feb: Ungdomsvasan. 3, 5, 7 or 9 km. Start Mora Ski Stadium.
Sun 26 Feb: Öppet Spår Sunday. 90 km. Start Sälen.
Mon 27 Feb: Öppet Spår Monday. 90 km. Start Sälen.
Tue 28 Feb: Halvvasan. 45 km. Start Oxberg.
Fri 3 Mar: Stafettvasan. 9–24 km. Five-person teams. Start Sälen.
Fri 3 Mar: Nattvasan. 90 km. Two-person teams. Start Sälen.
Sat 4 Mar: Öppet Spår 9 km. 9 km. Start Eldris.
Sun 5 Mar: Vasaloppet. 90 km. Start Sälen.

High-resolution photos from Vasaloppet's Winter Week 2016
http://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/pressroom/vasaloppet/image/list

Text and photos may be freely published.

For more information

Ola Granfeldt, PR Manager
Phone: +46 (0)250-392 77
Mobile: +46 (0)733-550 620
Email: ola.granfeldt@vasaloppet.se

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