CHANGCHUN, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) — The twenty third China Changchun Jingyuetan Vasaloppet International Ski Festival opened in Changchun, the capital of Northeast China’s Jilin Province, on Saturday.
The occasion introduced collectively over 2,000 skilled athletes and ski fanatics from throughout the globe, together with members from China, Sweden, Norway, Italy, Finland, and Germany.
Czech cross-country skier Fabian Stocek defended his title in males’s 50km with 2:05:22.914, 17.567 seconds forward of Swedish skier Hallen Johansson, who claimed silver. Lorenzo Busin of Italy took bronze.
“This is my fifth time to Vasaloppet China,” stated Stocek. “Today is sunny, and not too cold, in the past was much colder, and the landscape is nice.”
In the ladies’s 50km race, Swedish skier Malin Borjesjo claimed victory with a time of two:25:31.309, whereas Chinese skiers Li Lei and Chi Chunxue took silver and bronze, respectively.
The Vasaloppet International Ski Festival, originating in Sweden, is likely one of the world’s largest cross-country snowboarding occasions. In 2003, Vasaloppet China was launched in Changchun, changing into the fourth international venue for the pageant after Sweden, Japan and the United States.
Since 2014, Vasaloppet China has been an official member of Worldloppet, the world’s premier long-distance cross-country snowboarding group. Over the previous decade, Jingyuetan has grow to be a hub for elite skiers from around the globe.
“I think it has been a tremendous development among the Chinese people towards winter sports. The first time we did a winter sports event in China in 2003, most people in China, really didn’t know what the winter sport was,” stated Niclas Hellqvist, Managing Director of Nordic Ways. “Now I think so many Chinese people really enjoy winter sports or at least they want to try once a year.”
Chinese skier Li Fan, collaborating for the sixth time, expressed pleasure in regards to the competitors. “It’s thrilling to compete alongside so many international athletes and high-level skiers. This year, I came with four fellow ski enthusiasts. If possible, I’d love to return every year,” stated Li.
Beyond the races, Jingyuetan has collaborated with a number of universities in Changchun to offer public welfare coaching in cross-country snowboarding. More than half 1,000,000 college students have skilled right here since 2005.
“I’m very glad to see that more and more young skiers start skiing at a very young age. That’s also one of our long-term targets,” stated Born Lind, a former Swedish cross-country skier who received two golds on the Turin Winter Olympics and Company Event Director of Nordic Ways.