Swedish skaters return to frozen lake in style

There is no sign of Nils van der Poel, Sweden's double Olympic speed-skating champion in Beijing, but that does not stop over 500 competitors from gliding elegantly around a vast frozen lake just outside Stockholm.

It is a thrilling sight as they hurtle around the 50-kilometre course at speeds of 30 kilometres per hour (20 miles per hour) and it is a welcome one as the "Sigtunarannet" returned on Sunday after three years out of bounds.

This is, in fact, only the second time Sigtunarannet has been held since van der Poel won the inaugural race in 2018.

This year the 25-year-old had bigger fish to fry as he was busy collecting gold in the 5,000 and 10,000 metres speed-skating events at the Winter Olympics.

In 2019 and 2020, the ice on Lake Malaren was either absent or not strong enough, and last year it was Covid restrictions that forced the organisers to cancel the event.

This year's race, which started from Sigtuna, a small medieval town about 40 kilometres north of Stockholm, saw the competitors, divided into groups depending on their skill level, doing three laps around a track of just under 17 kilometres.

The skaters, wearing long skates designed for distance and tight, colourful suits, glide in characteristic style with hands tucked behind their backs.

This winter, the ice cover of about 15 centimetres was formed early in the season after a cold snap at the end of November, which meant that it held up well and refroze easily at night, despite temperatures being above freezing in recent weeks.

One small drawback is the blanket of snow as skaters prefer open stretches of clean ice. But snowploughs made it possible to carve out tracks on the lake.

Ludvig Nylen took the overall honours, the first person home in just over one hour 40 minutes, sliding in just 0.24 seconds ahead of Eva Lagrange who had the consolation of retaining the women's title she won in 2018.

The Sigtuna race is the heir to an even longer race, the Vikingarannet, which ran 80 kilometres between Uppsala and Stockholm.

The Viking race was often cancelled as the ice conditions in the Swedish capital became increasingly uncertain, and after a reduced course was used in 2017 the event was scrapped for good.

A cruel fate already suffered by the Dutch -- also great fans of speed skating -- who had to relocate their legendary annual Elfstedentocht race, which is almost 200 kilometres-long, to Austria, after cancellations became too common.

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