More than 45.000 participants gather in Sälen, Sweden, the first Sunday of March every year. The reason is the world’s largest cross country ski competition – Vasaloppet. The race is the peak of a week full of cross country ski events for beginners, children, teams and world class athletes. But the main event during the week is Vasaloppet, the world’s longest – 90 km – and most demanding cross country ski race.
During the race the benefits of heart rate presentation to viewers and spectators are obvious. It’s very hard to really understand the physical demands for the athletes without objective feedback. This insight lead to development of a live heart rate monitoring system back in 2006 by Activio together with SVT, Swedens Public Broadcasting company, and Vasaloppet. Ever since the first demonstration of heart rate monitoring in 2006 it has been a huge success for the production. Also, eurosport has carried the heart rate feedback live to its audience.
The core idea is to have the top skiers heart rate to be shown live on TV during the race. This made possible by Activio in 2006. For the very first time ever during Vasaloppet, the audience watching the broadcast could see skiers heart rate live on TV.
Activio supports Vasaloppet as an event to promote activity. Tomorrow, Activio’s CEO, Mr. Daniel Magnergard, will participate for the 7th time. Check out his progress on-line.
Activio / Anders
