”At Vasaloppet it’s about keeping full speed throughout. That can’t be done here.”
One that’s going to ski Red Bull Nordenskiöldsloppet is endurance cross country skier Nina Lintzén. With a third place in Vasaloppet and a fourth of the total at the endurance race World Cup among her merits, she has every reason to aim high.
– Honestly I don’t really know what I’m getting myself into. But it is going to be very interesting, Nina Lintzén says with a laughter.
She lives in Luleå and has left her day job as an engineer to study for a Phd with a focus on the mechanical properties of snow and ice. Something that in the long run might turn waxing skis into more of an science than art. A natural progression for such a dedicated skier as Nina.
Apart from that her main focus the coming winter is the Ski Classics and the aim to be among the top 10. Red Bull Nordenskiöldsloppet will be the last endurance race of the season, and probably the toughest.
– It’s a little special to keep up the physical performance for such a long time. But it’s a pretty flat race, so it should probably be manageable, Nina continues.
When Nordenskiöldsloppet was arranged in 1884 it took the winner roughly 21 hours to ski the 220 km’s. Nina is counting on being able to do it in about 12 hours!
– Not that I have done anything like it before. Here it’s all about making your own race and adapting your speed. Staying on the right side of the limit at all times with some to spair. So predicting how fast it’s going to be is a bit difficult, says Nina.
When she finished 3rd at Vasaloppet in 2009 she did it with the time 04:48:44.
–At Vasaloppet it’s about keeping full speed throughout. That can’t be done here. But it has shown that the longer the race the better I perform, says Nina.
Shes not completely inexperienced in challenging herself physically. In 2012 she won the 70km class of the Björkliden Arctic Mountain Marathon. A competition containing two days of running in mountain terrain in stages 7-8 hours long.
With her routine for endurance races and natural talent for long distances, she aims high.
– I want to ski to win. But really it would be like winning just being able to finish the race, Nina concludes with a smile.
