Hansson and Santus win overall FIS Marathon Cup

Wed, Apr  7, 2010 - By FIS

The FIS Marathon Cup (FMC), the season long long distance ski marathon series, concluded on 20th March with the traditional Birkebeinerrennet in Norway. Following this final race of ten, the new king and queen of long distance Cross-Country Skiing were crowned with Jenny Hansson (SWE, 600 points) and Fabio Santus (ITA, 417 points) winning the titles.

Hansson clearly repeated her overall victory from last year, thanks to three season victories at the Dolomitenlauf, Marcialonga and finally at the Birkebeinerrennet. The runner-up, 27-year-old Susanne Nystroem (SWE) also won three competitions, among them the famous Vasaloppet and scored points in four other competitions to reach her 510 season points. The Swedish clean sweep on the ladies' side was completed by Sandra Hansson who finished the marathon season with two victories (Tartumarathon, Jizerska Padesatka) and 360 points.

In the men's ranking, Fabio Santus (ITA) collected 417 points and won the season title. Oskar Svaerd of Sweden, the 2010 Marcialonga champion, finished 2nd, just 37 points behind Santus. Marco Cattaneo (ITA), last year's overall winner, took 3rd with 317 points.

The overall competition distance in the ten FMC ski marathons amounts to more than 590 km. Participation in all races is not required or necessary to be classified in the FIS Marathon Cup standings.

Contributed by Sandra Spitz