Crown Prince Haakon Competes in the Birkebeinerren­net

Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon participated in the annual Birkebeinerren­net cross-country skiing race today.

“I cannot wait! It is so nice weather…first and foremost, I hope it will be a good trip over the mountain,” he told NRK before the race, which sees competitors ski 54km from Rena to Lillehammer. Haakon also said he should have trained a little more prior to the race, and that he expected to be hurting afterwards.

Prince Haakon competed alongside 15,000 others from over 25 countries. He finished the race with a time of 3:36:12, well under his hoped for time of four and a half hours. “It was an amazing trip, there were lots of people cheering me on,” the Prince said at the finish line, also thanking the event’s volunteers for their efforts.

The race was won by Petter Eliasson – who also took out the Vasaloppet in Sweden earlier this month – in the men’s category, and Olympic gold medalist Therese Johaug in the women’s.

The Birkebeinerren­net was first held in 1932 and is held to commemorate the trip undertaken by Birkebeiner loyalists in 1206 to save an infant Håkon Håkonsson (the future King Haakon IV) from  the Bagler faction.

Filed under Norway
Tagged Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, Sport.