Schütz was tenth in Vasa's run, Persson ended the Norwegian winning streak

Vasův run, Ski Classics long-distance skiing race in Sweden (90 km), March 5, 2023. The winner is Norwegian Emilie Fleten.

Mora (Sweden) – Tenth place was taken by Sandra Schützová on the Vasova race and she ensured the best result of Czech cross-country skiers in the 99th year of the famous race. She reached the finish line of the 90-kilometer long course in the Swedish Sea with a loss of over 14 and a half minutes to the winning Norwegian Emilia Fletenová.

Advertisement'; }

Photo Gallery

The men's race was won by Ski Classics series leader Sweden's Emil Persson, ending the Norwegian skiers' dominance of the previous ten years. The best of the Czech runners, Jan Šrail, was four minutes behind him in 23rd place.

Schützová improved last year's 17th place. “This year's Vasák hurt like hell, but I take 10th place out of all ten and I'm really happy for him. I fought until the end and left everything there. I didn't like it from the beginning, I was very tired,” she said on Instagram.

“In the morning, we were all surprised by powder that no one expected. Sometimes it just doesn't happen. I'm sorry, but I appreciate today's position all the more. This year it was definitely the hardest race for me, both physically and mentally,” confided the thirty-one-year-old a native of Jilemnice, who is eighth in the Ski Classics standings.

Both the 27-year-old Persson and the 30-year-old Fletenová dominated the Vasa race for the first time. While the Swede avenged last year's narrow defeat to Andreas Nygaard in the five-man finish, Fletenová triumphed with a lead of more than two minutes ahead of Norwegian Silje Slindová. Her twin Astrid Slindová, who was defending her victory, finished fifth on the day after finishing tenth in the classic 30 at the World Championships in Planica.