Jörgen Brink, 35, competing for Hudiksvall, is this year’s winner of Vasaloppet. His victory came after an intensive spurt against, among others, Daniel Tynell. And thus the international cross country circus has got another new personality. “It’s great if I can help so that new names can raise the interest in long distance skiing”, said Jörgen Brink, after he’d recovered from his victory spurt.

Before each race in the FIS Marathon Cup (the cross country Cup) over the past ten years it has, in principle, been a question of the same favourites. This shows that it is very difficult to establish oneself in this area, while at the same time new profiles raise the interest in these competitions. There were, therefore, many who were extremely happy when Jörgen Brink won Sunday’s Vasaloppet; it was a victory which meant a great deal for many who work with international long distance skiing.   “It’s very hard to compete against the top skiers, but now I’ve taken a big and important step. It means, perhaps, that I will be making a real cross country effort in the coming season,” says Brink.
 
Changed focus
Before this season Brink had hoped to be part of the Olympic biathlon team; when this didn’t work out, he changed focus and began to concentrate on Vasaloppet.  
This winter Brink has had several good cross country races which, amongst other things, gave a second place in the Tartu Marathon two weeks ago. This meant that many began to take notice of him before Vasaloppet. But Brink suffered a very severe cold which put him on the deck for 1½ weeks. And it was only four days before Vasaloppet that he began training again. And his decision to actually start in the race wasn’t made until Saturday afternoon!
“Then I felt that it was at least worth having a go. During the race I just concentrated on hanging on in there one kilometre at a time,” says Jörgen.  
This perhaps explains why he kept a relatively low profile while the leading group was fighting it out.
In the first slope, a bunch of eight skiers, including the Norwegian Thomas Alsgaard and the Czech Stanislav Rezac, pulled away. At the most, they had a gap of two minutes before the main following group. But Jörgen Brink kept calm all the time.
“Yes, because there were so many good skiers in the group that I felt that we could catch up with them.” 
 
Tynell took over
He was right. After Oxberg all the breakaway group were caught up with and last year’s winner, Daniel Tynell, took over the show.
“He made an initial break just before Hökberg. The group broke up but too many were still hanging on. So Daniel pushed again and again but nothing decisive happened. Everyone around seemed a bit exhausted, but I was feeling very good. So it was natural that I tried several times to get away. But it didn’t work, and when there was just 5 km left, I realised that it would be a sprint in the finishing straight. So I focused on that.” 
Daniel Tynell, Jörgen Brink, Jörgen Aukland and Stanislav Rezac came towards the finish together. Tynell pushed on first, and Brink was behind him till about 100 m from the finish, when he attacked for the first time, and then won, half a metre before Tynell. 
“You could say that I grew into the race. At the beginning I wasn’t at all sure I could fix it. A couple of kilometres before the finish, I began to think, I can win this. In the final finishing sprint I deliberately got behind Daniel’s back, and then stepped out a couple of hundred metres from the finish. It worked, and I was able to win,” says Brink.     
Daniel Tynell, who had done much of the hard work, was disappointed at the finish but was the first to congratulate Brink.
“He had a good race. And at the same time, I must in any case be satisfied. I gave 110% and the race developed exactly as I wished. You can’t ask more than that,” said Daniel.
 
A doubly important victory
For Jörgen, both as a person and a skier, this was more than a Vasaloppet victory. Up till now, he has mostly been associated with a collapse in the World Championship relay in 2003 in Val di Fiemme, which destroyed Sweden’s gold chance. Now he will be remembered for something quite different.                
“I’m aware that it’s hard to forget my World Championship relay performance. But now I’m a Vasaloppet winner and that is the absolute top of my skiing career.” 
Daniel Tynell, who has won the race three times, assured Brink that he has a wonderful time ahead of him.  
“You’re going to notice how incredibly great it is to win Vasaloppet. For many this is almost bigger than World Championship and Olympic medals. Take some time to enjoy this victory,” says Daniel to Jörgen Brink.

The ten first to the finish:
1 Jörgen Brink, Hudiksvalls IF, 4:02:59
2 Daniel Tynell, Grycksbo IF OK, 4:02:59
3 Stanislav Rezac, Czech Republic, 4:03:02
4 Jörgen Aukland, Norway, 4:03:06
5 Fredrik Östberg, Falun/Borlänge SK, 4:03:37
6 Marco Cattaneo, Italy, 4:03:51
7 Oskar Svärd, Vålådalens SK, 4:04:54
8 Erik Eriksson, IFK Mora SK, 4:05:04
9 Markus Jönsson, Ulricehamns IF, 4:05:08
10 Dan Moberg, Ulricehamns IF, 4:05:09

Susanne Nyström came back and won Vasaloppet

What a Vasaloppet Week for IFK Mora’s Susanne Nyström! Last Saturday she won TjejVasan for the fourth time. On Sunday, just a week later, she could take home victory in Vasaloppet’s Ladies Class: “This is the greatest thing that’s happened to me as a skier. I’m both moved and happy at the same time,” says Susanne after the race, which was a real drama.

Directly after the start, the three favourites, Jenny Hansson, Sandra Hansson and Susanne Nyström, were together, an unusual situation for victory aspirants in Vasaloppet’s Ladies Class. But then Sandra Hansson broke away to get a clear lead ahead of Susanne Nyström. Jenny let go and was thus out of the victory stakes.

Never gave up
The distance between Sandra Hansson and Susanne Nyström grew and was, just before Oxberg, at most two minutes. 
“The gap was big, sure, but I never felt that it was impossible to catch up with her, as the time between us kept going back and forth,” says Susanne.
After Hökberg Sandra went into the wall and Susanne steadily took in metre for metre. And just before Eldris, about ten kilometres from the finish, Susanne could see Sandra.
“Then I felt that maybe this is going to work. I began to wonder whether I should try to get away directly or wait to put on the pressure,” says Susanne.
The result was that they were together until just before Hemus, about four kilometres from the finish, and there Susanne increased the tempo.
“The problem was that I immediately got some cramp sensations in my legs, but at the same time Sandra had to let me go. And then it was just to fight on,” says Susanne, who could then ski alone into the finishing straight to receive cheers from the jubilant public. 
“It was a very powerful experience, to be a solitary winner in the finishing straight, since one is completely drained, exhausted but incredibly happy. And I’m not really used to this situation, as I’ve won my four TjejVasans in sprint duels!”    
 
A tired second
Sandra Hansson finished as runner-up. After finishing, she was utterly exhausted and had to be helped to recover somewhat. In her case, there was certainly no lack of the will to win. Third was Sofia Bleckur, IFK Mora.
As for Susanne Nyström, we see the beginning of an interesting continued involvement with long distance races. Susanne has earlier said that she has seen the seasons’ starts in long distance races as a time to watch and learn. Winning Vasaloppet gives her a perfect answer. The question is what will happen next winter, when she is seriously into long distance competitions. That will be exciting to see!

The ten first ladies to the finish in 2010:
1 Susanne Nyström, IFK Mora SK, 4:33:07
2 Sandra Hansson, Norway, 4:33:39
3 Sofia Bleckur, IFK Mora SK, 4:35:59
4 Jenny Hansson, Vålådalens SK, 4:44:21
5 Nina Lintzén, Årsunda IF, 4:46:31
6 Kristina Strandberg, IFK Hedemora SK, 4:50:40
7 Manuela Henkel, Germany, 4:53:45
8 Solveig Steinsland, Norway, 4:55:16
9 Ellen Sandbakken, Norway, 5:00:57
10 Karin Nilsson, IFK Umeå, 5:09:39

Footnote:Ladies were officially allowed to take part in Vasaloppet first in 1981, after an amendment to FIS competition rules. Vasaloppet has had an official Ladies Class since 1997. Susanne Nyström has now become the very first lady to win an official “double” - both TjejVasan and Vasaloppet in the same year.

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