18-year-old Helene Fossesholm (NOR) beats the established elite at the Blink Summer Ski Festival with a lineup worthy of a World Cup.
Helene Fossesholm opened the traditional summer ski festival in Sandnes, Norway, with eighth place in the brutal uphill race Lysebotn Opp on Thursday. Then she won the 10-kilometer skate race on Friday. On Saturday, she concluded the race weekend with fifth place in the sprint final.
“I feel like I delivered a smart race in the Friday when I won the 10-kilometer skate race, and I’m also happy with the sprint race on Saturday,” Fossesholm says.
While the 18-year-ols is excited to beat several of the seasoned top-10 World Cup racers this weekend, she also points out that it is still only summer and the season is still far off.
“This is roller skiing. Winter is what matters, but I love competing, and it’s always fun to race well,” says Fossesholm, who also competes at the World Cup level in mountain biking during the dryland season.
Impressive double-pole finish at Lysebotn Opp
Additionally, Madshus marathon racer Astrid Øyre Slind (NOR) won the double-pole version of the 7.5-kilometer Lysebotn Opp uphill race on Thursday. She was almost a minute and a half ahead of the next racer.
In the traditional skate version of the race, Simen Sveen (NOR) was fourth in the men’s race. He was only 15 seconds from the podium.
In the 10-kilometer skate race that Fossesholm won, Madshus had three other racers among the top 11 finishers: Hedda Østensen Amundsen (NOR) was sixth, Krista Pärmäkoski (FIN) was tenth and Tiril Liverud Knudsen was 11th. Finally, Østensen Amundsen was sixth in the sprint on Saturday.