Housing and service have been phased out over the past 50 years in favor of mining. Now the urban transformation in Malmberget has taken off seriously. This poses challenges for the organizer of the ski premiere in Gällivare as contractors have booked one of the hotels in Gällivare.
- Society must be moved and we have limited opportunities to receive riders this year. Unfortunately we had to say no to the Russian national team players who are instead in Finland and are charging for the season. It will be a less international element than 2017, says Stefan Nieminen, head of operations at the Gällivare premiere.
Swedish elite
In 2017, there were 100 Russian skiers where the riders dominated on the men's side.
The Swedish national team riders can still be tamped with riders from Canada, China, Mongolia, Poland and Switzerland where the Olympic and World Cup champion Dario Cologna is on the starting line. Ebba Andersson's involvement is highly uncertain as she slipped and injured her knee during a run. But Charlotte Kalla, Frida Karlsson, Stina Nilsson, Jonna Sundling and Maja Dahlqvist are on the starting line.
- Although the international starting field is not as big, it feels very fun that we can offer such a strong starting field with several world stars, says Nieminen.
Stored snow
On Friday, the ski premiere will start with 10 kilometers free style for the ladies and 15 kilometers free style for the men. The races then continue with classic skiing over 10 and 15 kilometers to finish on Sunday with a sprint.
The conditions also look good.
- It has been an early winter and we have had a trail of 7 kilometers of natural snow since October 20. We also stored snow from last season and since a week back we drive on the race track. It looks great, says Stefan Nieminen.
This weekend, it is the premiere of the Winter Studio when SVT Sport broadcasts directly from the Gällivare premiere.
You can see the hold times in the fact box below.