Key result
Male participants in the Vasaloppet cross-country skiing race between 1922 and 2017 were 14.5% faster than females (7h 52m vs 9h 00m) and vastly outnumbered them with a 17.5 men-to-women ratio.
Why the study?
Gender differences in performance, participation, and the role of nationality over a century in a major cross-country skiing event had not been fully investigated.
Observational (n=562,413)
p-value: p=<0.001
A century of data from the Vasaloppet cross-country skiing race shows significant gender disparities in participation and performance, highlighting the need for policies to encourage female participation.
Sex-based endurance gaps persist across decades; leaves open whether equity-focused interventions enhance female participation and CV outcomes.
This study investigated gender differences in performance and participation and the role of nationality during one century in one of the largest cross-country (XC) skiing events in the world, the ‘Vasaloppet‘ in Sweden. The total number of female and male athletes who finished (n = 562,413) this race between 1922 and 2017 was considered. Most of the finishers were Swedish (81.03% of women and 88.39% of men), followed by Norwegians and Finnish. The overall men-to-women ratio was 17.5. A gender × nationality association was observed for participation (χ2 = 1,823.44, p < 0.001, φ = 0.057), with the men-to-women ratio ranging from 6.7 (USA) to 19.1 (Sweden). For both genders, the participation (%) of Swedish decreased, and that of all other nationalities (except Swiss) increased across years. Regarding the mean race time, men were faster than women by 14.5% (7 h 52 min 17 s versus 9 h 00 min 55 s, respectively). A trivial gender×nationality interaction regarding the race time was observed (p < 0.001, η2 < 0.001), with gender differences ranging from 4.4% (USA) to 22.0% (Iceland). The race time increased across calendar years for both women (r = 0.45, p = 0.006, moderate magnitude) and men (r = 0.25, p = 0.015, small magnitude). On the basis of these findings, we concluded that a relatively small number of women pariticipates in XC skiing. Therefore, the development of public health policies targeting the participation of women in XC skiing should be a concern in the countries with a tradition of this sport.
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Romancuk et al. (2019) conducted an observational in Cross-country skiing (n=562,413). Male gender vs. Female gender was evaluated on Participation and mean race time (p=<0.001). Male participants in the Vasaloppet cross-country skiing race between 1922 and 2017 were 14.5% faster than females (7h 52m vs 9h 00m) and vastly outnumbered them with a 17.5 men-to-women ratio.
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