Swedish double victory at Marcialonga 2021
The 48th Marcialonga was a success. Despite all the difficulties caused by the pandemic and the many snowfalls – with a fresh snowfall last night – that forced the organizers to work hard over the last few weeks, the organizing committee of Marcialonga managed to stage a true “miracle”. This year, 1,250 people took part in the traditional ski marathon of Val di Fiemme and Val di Fassa. Even though they couldn’t train regularly, they wanted to take part in this great competition – what is surprising is the high number of foreign participants, who had to cope with the travel restrictions.
In the long distance race, the pro athletes set a slow pace due to the fresh snow in the tracks, with a long snake of athletes from the start in Moena to Molina di Fiemme. The competition began to heat up in the last kilometer, with four skiers breaking away on the Cascata climb. Sweden’s Emil Persson crossed the finish line in Cavalese in first place, getting Sweden back on the top spot of the men’s podium after 10 years: “I felt really good this morning and I knew I could win. I had a good position on the Cascata climb and managed to take the first place in the last 200 meters”.
Tord Asle Gjerdalen was chasing his fourth win at Marcialonga after his straight victories in 2015, 2016 and 2017, but finished second, 0.3 behind the winner. Russia’s Ermil Vokuev completed the podium.
Sweden dominated even on the women’s side, with Lina Korsgren winning ahead of Norway’s Emilie Fleten and Sweden’s Ida Dahl. The first Italian athletes were Mauro Brigadoi (24th) and Ilenia De Francesco (18th).
The Marcialonga Light – the shorter race – finished in the Ski Jumping Stadium in Predazzo, with Italy taking gold in both the men’s and the women’s races. Mattia Armellini won ahead of Max Olex and Davide Facchini. In the women’s race, despite breaking a ski, Stefania Corradini finished 20 minutes ahead of Thea Schwingshackl and Anna Bolzan.
The president of the organizing committee Angelo Corradini was very satisfied: “I had some worries before the race, but today everything went like clockwork. It was a very complicated edition, there was a lot of tension and stress. To the other organizers I say: Life must go on. We have to keep working, we can’t stop!”
