I can die happy now. I can't understand it, says Alvar Myhlback to SVT.
The previous youngest winner was Ernst Alm, who was 22 years old when he won the first Vasaloppet in 1922.
It's so sick. It's a life goal, this. I love Vasaloppet. I've never had better skis in my entire life, says Myhlback to SVT.
Before this year's Vasaloppet, the 18-year-old said.
If I'm going to win the race, I have to dominate the race.
He did just that. On his top skis, which he used when he won the junior World Championship last year, he was always in the lead and made crucial decisions during the race.
This year's Vasaloppet really took off in the downhill sections after Evertsberg. The snow was drier there, and the skis went faster. A leading group formed, consisting of eleven skiers with five kilometers left of the race. In that group were Alvar Myhlback, Emil Persson, Axel Jutterström, and Max Novak.
The last kilometers became a tactical game where strong sprinters like Emil Persson, Petter Stakston, and Andreas Nyggaard were pace-setters.
In the final stretch, it initially looked like Persson would repeat his victory from 2023. But when only a few hundred meters remained, Alvar Myhlback came from the outside on the final stretch. Persson came in second, just a second behind Myhlback.
Third-place Max Novak, another second behind, congratulates the winner.
It felt early on that it would be tough to get away from him. It's incredibly impressive, he says to SVT.
