One of the most legendary races of the cross-country skiing World Cup series, the Holmenkollen 50km, will probably not take place next year.
The ski competition, which took place for the first time already in 1898, has only been canceled four times since the Second World War: in 1994 the Lillehammer Olympics, in 2009 due to the renovation of the ski center and in 2021 due to corona pandemic.
In 2025, the World Cup in Trondheim, which will take place from February 26 to March 9, risks being fatal for the competition. According to the information initially released, the MK stage would not take place in Holmenkollen next season, but according to the latest news some races will still take place, but not over the 50 km distance.
“The final format will be decided in the spring, but the cross-country commission has already decided that the format will not be 50 km long,” explained Michal Lamplot, sports director of cross-country skiing at the International Ski Federation (FIS).
He added that the problem is the place in the MK calendar, because immediately after the World Championships the interest in this distance does not promise to be very great. “In general, there are few athletes who would come to the start and Holmenkollen deserves to be one of the highlights of the season,” she said.
The FIS decision, however, angered many skiers. “It’s silly, the Oslo 50 is one of the most important races of the season, one of the most watched and anticipated. The race with the greatest traditions on the calendar,” said Britain’s Andrew Musgrave.
Swedish Frida Karlsson also agreed with him. “It was a tradition, it would be very sad. There would be time to change the date,” she said.
Karlsson’s teammate Willam Poromaa added: “It’s not the right decision if we want spectators for the competitions, because this competition is one of the most popular and therefore we risk losing spectators.”
Andrus Veerpalu also won the Holmenkollen ski marathon twice (2003, 2005).
2024-01-02 17:14:00
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