While
mushers begin the grueling Iditarod Sled Dog Race in Alaska today (a
long distance race comprising more than 1,000 miles that takes from 8
to 15 days to travel), today marks the Vasaloppet cross-country ski
race in Sweden.
This
is the oldest, longest, and biggest cross-country ski race in the
world!
Around
15,000 people will ski the 90 kilometers (almost 56 miles) between
the village of Salen and the town of Mora. There has been a whole
week's worth of races leading up to the big race, and this year a
record-breaking 66,000 people are registered to participate in all
eight of the races together.
That's
a lot of cross-country skiers!
This
event got its start in 1922—but it is held in honor of an event
that occurred in 1520! In that year a 24-year-old nobleman named
Gustav Ericsson Vasa urged the men of Mora to stand with him in
opposition to the Danish king, who was called Christian II. Vasa
wanted to drive Christian II out of Sweden and have a Swedish king
instead.
Christian
II should not have been surprised that this young nobleman wanted to
throw him out of Sweden. After all, most of the Swedish nobility
opposed the king. So Christian II invited them to come to
reconciliation dinner—in other words, to some peace talks. And then
Christian II surprised his guests by having them all killed!
A
massacre isn't very Christian, is it?
The
people who were killed included Vasa's parents. And so he ran and hid
from the king's soldiers, and tried to drum up support from his
fellow countrymen. The men of Mora didn't want to fight against the
king, though. So Vasa went on toward the village of Salen.
Then
the townspeople heard that Christian II was going to raise taxes
again. They changed their mind about Vasa's proposition and decided
to fight the king. Two brothers were sent out on skis to chase down
Vasa in Salen and bring him back to Mora to lead the revolution.
Long
story short, Vasa and his Swedish soldiers were able to defeat the
Danish king. Gustav Vasa was crowned the new king! Sweden has been an
independent nation ever since.
To
celebrate this ski run by King Vasa, people ski the same basic route
between the two towns. But the Swedish people are not the only ones
who show up to participate in this race. Although the winners of the
race for the first three decades were all Swedish, since 1954 there
have been Finnish, Norwegian, German, Austrian, and Swiss winners. A
few other countries have been represented with one win apiece,
including one woman from the U.S. I don't think that there has been a
single Danish winner in the entire history of the race!
Also
on this date:
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