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Scan Magazine | Special Portrait | Emelie Forsberg
Humble and optimistic – and world champion The mosquitoes are here with a vengeance, but the World Skyrunning Champion, Emelie Forsberg, remains unfazed. No stranger to the outdoors, she has grown up ski mountaineering and mountain running. Legs crossed beneath her, she is a picture of composure – despite having a marathon to run the following day. By Emmie Collinge | Photos: Fjällmaraton
We are sitting outside the lecture theatre at a shrine to Swedish middle-distance running and cross-country skiing. Once the long-term training ground of running legend Gunder Hägg, the week-long series of trail running events has transformed Vålådalen into an athletes’ village yet again. Moments before, the 27-year-old Swede was giving a speech documenting her ascent to mountain running’s elite and her healthy approach to competing.
to come to Vålådalen for the Fjällmaraton, my first running competition.” The decision changed her life as the dominant victory got her noticed. “It’s so funny,” she laughs. “For me it was just so exciting to share the emotions with the others at the start. Halfway round, I offered my homemade kladdkaka [sticky chocolate cake] to people running next to me, but they just laughed and carried on. I did catch up with them though!”
Forsberg grew up on Sweden’s east coast, which, bathed in snow for five months of every year, embedded in her a love for the outdoors from an early age. “I moved to Norway in 2009, studying forest sciences and working in a bakery. I split my time so I had four hours running every day. When I got two days off in August 2009, I decided
The world champion continues, blushing a little: “When I look back, it’s interesting to see how I’ve developed.” Parallel with this progression is an increase in pressure, which she tries to ignore: “In the past two years, it isn’t the positions I remember, but the good days out that I’ve had. Since 2011, I’ve done around 60 com-
petitions. Being outside is what’s important, appreciating the views and escaping reality. For me it is still about the emotions, seeing each and every person achieve their own individual goals.” Together with boyfriend and prolific mountain runner Kilian Jornet, Forsberg launched the overwhelmingly popular Tromsø Skyrace, held last month, which sold out in less than four minutes. She admits that it is a technical route – just how they like it – but says reassuringly that “you won’t die if you fall.” Given her refreshingly optimistic attitude to competing, which somehow seems at odds with her fearless runs, we cannot help but shout ‘heja heja’ as she runs to victory the next day.
Emelie is no stranger to the outdoors, as she has grown up ski mountaineering and mountain running. “When I look back, it’s interesting to see how I’ve developed,” she says. Photo: Phil Gale
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