 Upper secondary sport schools are a large part of the sport successes in Sweden. Many of the best Swedish atlethics have been trained or are training in some sort of sport school. In the sport schools the students get a chance to combine their sport and their studies. It's a high amount of sports and sport schools to choose between in Sweden.  The most famous sport schools in Sweden are Soccerschools, Hockeyschools, Horseschools and Crosscountry skischools. There are 33 different sports and about 70 different sport schools to choose between.
This is Peter Forsberg, the Stanley Cup Champion who have won almost every trophy that you can win in hockey.  We have decided to tell you a little more about one of Sweden's most beloved sports, Cross-country skiing. Cross-country is a very old sport in Sweden. The first contest took place in 1884 (in the Nordenskölds race.) The first official Swedish Championship took place in 1919. Cross-country is practised in distances between 5 to 50 kilometres. The longest and most popular and most famous Cross-country contest is the Vasa race, (Vasaloppet). The race is 90 kilometres long. About 15000 people join the competition every year. These two pictures show the two styles in Cross-country: Classic and Free Technique.
During the 20th Century Sweden had many sport successes in Cross-country, for example; Thomas Wassberg, Olympic Champion in the 50 kilometre race in Sarajevo, 1984. Gunde Svan, Olympic Champion in the 50 kilometre race in Calgary, 1988. Niklas Jonsson, Olympic silver medal in the 50 kilometre race in Nagano, 1998. Per Elofsson, Junior World Champ 1996 and 1997. He is the new Swedish hope for the future. Per has been in a Cross- country school in Lycksele for four years. There he has developed from a junior skier to a World Champion. One of us have experience of one year at the Upper Secondary Cross-country School in Sollefteå, Sweden. A normal day in school ; 7:30 wax the skies 8:00 assembly 8:30 training: free technique A1 2:30 hours. 12:00 Lunch 12:45 Mathematics 13:40 English 14:30 Social science 15:30 End of school day 16:00 Dinner at school Every Monday we had Swedish lesson after school 17:00-19:15. I was only there for the first year. That year was a good year and I learned a lot. Our trainers taught us about, training, ski-waxing and what an athlete should eat. The teachers were really good and helped us a lot. But it is also possible to combine the studies and the sport here in Örnsköldsvik in Parkskolan, by choosing a Cross-country course as an individual choice. There are seven different Cross-country Schools in Sweden where the youths can be trained. During the next three years two schools will be shut down, Lycksele and Ulricehamn. The authorities do this so more money can be given to the other five schools. Normally students go three years in school but ski students often go four years in school so they can train more and still do the same school work, and also get a good education. Hopefully this will give Sweden more success in the future too.  This is a picture of the Swedish men and women Cross-country Team 1998/99. This is some addresses you can look at if you are interested. www.skidor.com Skidforbundet
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