Finlandia-hiihto (

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

: ''Finlandialoppet'',

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: ''Finlandia Ski Marathon'') is a long-distance cross-country skiing competition, held in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

each February. Initially, the track stretched from

Hämeenlinna Hämeenlinna (; sv, Tavastehus; krl, Hämienlinna; la, Tavastum or ''Croneburgum'') is a city and municipality of about inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Tavastia and the modern province of Kanta-Häme in the south of F ...

Lahti Lahti (; sv, Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is the capital of the region of Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme) and its growing region is one of the main economic hubs of Finland. Lahti is situated on a bay at the southern e ...

via

Lammi Lammi ( sv, Lammi, also ) is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated with Hämeenlinna on 2009-01-01. It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Tavastia Proper region. The municipality had a population ...

. Since the original course went across several lakes and the ice quality varied from winter to winter, the race was later moved to a location near Lahti. The first ever Finlandia-hiihto was to have taken place on a course leading from Hämeenlinna to

Hyvinkää Hyvinkää (; sv, Hyvinge, ) is a city and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Uusimaa region, approximately north of the capital Helsinki. The city was chartered in 1960. The population of Hyvinkää is (). Its neighboring municipal ...

. However, due to a lack of snow, the race had to be cancelled. The debut event took place the following year, 1974, with a 75-kilometre course from Hämeenlinna to Lahti. In 1976, the race already attracted 3,500 participants from 14 countries. Finlandia-hiihto has been a part of the Worldloppet series since it was founded for the 1978-1979 season. In 1982,

Prince Tomohito of Mikasa was a member of the Imperial House of Japan and the eldest son of Takahito, Prince Mikasa and Yuriko, Princess Mikasa. He was a first cousin of Emperor Akihito, and was formerly sixth in the line of succession to the Japanese throne and the ...

from Japan took part in Finlandia-hiihto. That year also saw the number of participants exceed 10,000 for the first time. Two years later, with more than 13,000 participants, Finlandia-hiihto broke the Guinness World Record for the biggest mass skiing event in the world. In 1986, the use of the skating technique was allowed for the first time, but the ban was reintroduced in 1988. In 1990, a separate freestyle race was held on the day before the classic technique competition. The separate freestyle race was soon discontinued, but re-established in 2007. Due to poor snow conditions in the 1990s, the event had to be moved five times from Hämeenlinna to Lahti. Consequently, a decision was made to change the location permanently, and from 2001 onwards the Finlandia-hiihto has been raced on a course that takes the competitors from Lahti to

Hollola Hollola () is a municipality of Finland, located in the western part of the Päijänne Tavastia region. The municipality is unilingually Finnish and has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density Pop ...

and back. In 2011 Finlandia-hiihto became a part of the FIS Marathon Cup series, which boosted the prestige and visibility of the event. Over 7,000 skiers took part in the 40th anniversary event of Finlandia-hiihto in 2013. In the same year, the Finlandia Ski Team was founded. The team takes part in cross-country ski races and mass skiing events in Finland and other countries. The 2020 race had to be cancelled, for the 1st time in the event's history, due to lack of snow on account of the exceptionally mild winter in Finland.

References

External links

Finlandia-hiito's web pagesFinlandia-hiihto photos 2014
{{Worldloppet International sports competitions hosted by Finland Cross-country skiing competitions in Finland February sporting events Recurring sporting events established in 1974 1974 establishments in Finland Ski marathons