On Sunday, Lina Korsgren, Team Ramudden, took her third Vasaloppet victory in the new record time of 3.52.08, all the way challenged by the cross country skiing legend Marit Bjørgen.
“The feeling grows, and now it’s more and more joy and pride. After the finish, it was a kind of emptiness,” says Korsgren.
We called Lina a couple of days after her impressive performance when she had some time to think through the race, watch some sequences from the race, and had time to let her third Vasaloppet victory and record time sink in.
You started at a fast pace right from the start. Was it according to plan?
“The idea was not to get a gap, but I wanted to start the race at a good pace. When I turned around at the climb point at the top of the first hill, I saw that I had stretched out the field quite a bit. Then it was just to take it from there. It was a good start of the race,” says Korsgren.
How were your thoughts later in the race when it was just about you and Marit Bjørgen. Did the fact that it was Bjørgen you were fighting against affect you in any way?
“Yes, it was an unusual situation. I didn’t know her weaknesses and strengths in a race like this. It was mixed feelings but also great fun to be in that situation.”
When the men’s second group passed Lina and Marit, Lina was able to stay in the back of the group, but Marit lost meter by meter.
“But then I also had to let go, and when I watched back, I saw that Marit was not far behind.”
Lina saw the men’s group about 100 meters in front of her and worked her way back to the group and ended up behind Team Engcon’s Gabriel Höjlind and Alexis Jeannerod, Team Décathlon Experiencé. A decisive moment in the women’s race.
When Lina passed Eldris with nine kilometers left of the race, she had a gap of 12 seconds to Bjørgen.
“At that point, I wasn’t sure that I would manage to win, but a couple of kilometers later, I understood that Marit didn’t pick any seconds on me, and I felt that I had some strength left, but you never know what can happen at the end of 90 km race.”
Korsgren was the strongest in the final kilometers, and the victory margin was finally 42 seconds. Lina Korsgren’s new record time at Vasaloppet is 3.52.08. The previous record was from 2012 when Vibeke Skofterud won in 4.08.24.
Even though it was record speed in Vasaloppet this year, there were some difficulties due to the special conditions prevailing in the track with the little fresh snow down in the track profile. Korsgren, and everyone else, went the whole distance between the tracks on the hard and icy corduroy snow.
How was it to race 90 km without being able to relax some in the track profile, even in the downhill slopes?
“It was tough on the muscles and felt in a completely different way than usual. You had to be active all the time, think about the balance and be alert. You could never relax,” says Korsgren.
Lina has not started to think so much about the upcoming events yet, but of course, she looks forward to Vålådalsrennet 54 km (the replacement for Birken in Norway) and Årefjällsloppet 100 km. The races take place in Korsgrens well-known training grounds around Vålådalen.
“One thing is certain. There will be two really tough races,” Korsgren states.
Lina beside her teammate Ida Dahl on the hard and icy corduroy snow.
