Jan Ottosson was a traditional distance skier who became a Vasaloppet legend. At the 1988 Calgary Olympics, Sweden’s men’s team won the relay gold after a difficult start to the Games. A few days after the relay, Gunde Svan shone in the 50 km classic event, securing victory.

“It was the first time we had to deal with artificial snow. We arrived in Canmore after training in Silverstar. The conditions were challenging, and the snow was very cold. In the early races, we waxed our skis with klister, which worked for a few kilometers but then froze up. We waxed ourselves out of the competition. Then there were jokes that we skied poorly because of our checkered ski suits,” Ottosson laughs as he recalls the events from years ago.

The tide turned in the freestyle legs of the relay. Jan Ottosson, who had won a 15 km World Cup race in Reit im Winkl, Germany, the previous year, gave Sweden a perfect start by handing over in second place. The trio of Thomas Wassberg, Gunde Svan, and Torgny Mogren ensured that the relay gold went to Sweden. The team was almost the same as four years earlier in Sarajevo, where the gold also went to the Swedes. Back then, Mogren was replaced by Benny Kohlberg.

“We won many relays during those years, so just competing for a spot on the team was tough. For example, we had Thomas Eriksson, who won the 30 km at the World Championships two years earlier, and he didn’t get a spot on the team. This internal competition made the skiers even more nervous. I skied the third leg in Sarajevo, gained a 12-second lead over the Russian, and gave Gunde a good position for the anchor leg. One-skate technique was just coming into vogue, and Gunde was really good at it,” Ottosson says.

Sweden won by a ten-second margin, even though Gunde Svan fell just before the finish. But let’s go back to 1988. After the Olympics, the Swedish national team, in accordance with an agreement made with Vasaloppet director Rolf Hammar, went directly to Dalarna to prepare for the legendary long-distance race. For Ottosson, this first attempt at the 90 km race was not a celebration.

“This was before the time of mobile phones, and I waxed my skis according to the weather at the start. It was minus eight in Sälen, but by the time we reached Mora, it was already zero degrees, and up on the marshes, the temperature was close to zero, so I had to stop and re-wax. I finished 46th, which left me very unsatisfied. I decided I would do better next time.”

The following year, it was time for the World Championships in Lahti. Jan Ottosson finished 12th in the 30 km but had to withdraw from the championships due to a cold. He returned home and focused on the Vasaloppet. His training diary shows his final week of preparation:

• February 27: 2.00 hours – light training
• February 28: 3.00 hours – light training
• March 1: 3.00 hours – long-distance ski training
• March 2: 2.00 hours – long-distance training in classic style
• March 3: 1.45 hours – skiing from Oxberg and testing skis
• March 4: 0.30 hours – ski testing
• March 5: 5.10 hours – Vasaloppet victory

“The Vasaloppet races in 1989 and 1991 were very tough. I remember in 1989 when I stopped briefly and immediately lost many positions. I was probably around 200th place. Everyone skied on a single track, and if you wanted to pass, you had to wait for an uphill and then ski as fast as you could. I used Sven-Åke Lundbäck’s tactic in five Vasaloppets, which was to stay with the main group until the Lundbäcksbackarna section and then attack on those climbs.”

The result was four victories: 1989, 1991, 1992, and 1994. The 1990 Vasaloppet was canceled due to lack of snow. In 1993, Jan Ottosson finished eight seconds behind the winner, Håkan Westin. A week before the Vasaloppet, he also competed for the Swedish championship in the 50 km. It’s also noteworthy that he was the first to finish the Vasaloppet in under four hours using the classic technique in 1992. In 1983, Konrad Hallenbarter won with a time of 3:58, but he used the one-skate technique.

So, how does the Vasaloppet hero view the current double-poling trend in mass races?

“I’d say it’s a natural development. Skating technique evolved when grooming machines came along, and as the tracks became firmer, the current development of double-poling became possible. Races with mandatory diagonal stride sections are too difficult to control. I think the choice between grip wax or double-poling before the race adds an interesting tactical element and moves the sport forward,” comments Jan Ottosson, who worked for many years as a coach at Åsarna Ski High School. The now 62-year-old former ski champion is looking forward to retirement.

Are you interested in Vasaloppet and long-distance skiing? Click HERE and read more about it.