World Cup ski race on ‘fake’ Stockholm slope

The announcement was made by Sweden's Ski Federation on Tuesday.

 

It said that a parallel slalom race featuring the world's top slalom skiers was set to take place on February 2nd 2016 at Hammarbybacken in Stockholm's southern suburbs.

 

There are few hills around the Swedish capital and Hammarbybacken is a man-made slope constructed on a former rubbish dump.

 

Speaking after the announcement, Swedish World Cup Alpine ski star Mattias Hargin said:

 

"For me it's a dream to compete at home in Stockholm. Parallel slalom is very special, one of the most enjoyable races."

 

Sweden's Ski Federation said it was expecting a crowd of between 15,000 and 25,000 to watch the race.

 

Director Niklas Carlsson told Swedish television network SVT he was convinced that tickets for the event would sell out. He said that the compact hill would create a "closeness to participants" not found at other venues.

 

The news will provide some comfort to sports fans disappointed that Stockholm dropped its bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics at the start of this year.