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Earlier this week, Solvalla announced that the Elite Race 2020 will take place without an audience due to the crown pandemic.
Jörgen Forsberg does not want to comment on exactly how hard it is affecting the economy, but a number of steps have been taken.
– We, as a clue, pushed some prize money on that weekend and there we have chosen to reduce. We have previously been responsible for transporting guest horses in the form of flights from France and the United States and also hotels for assets, but we have eliminated it, he says.
– If you want to be with you, get here the best you want.
Beyond the economic aspects. There are also other things that differentiate the end of the year preparations compared to previous years.
The elite race draws between 40,000 and 50,000 visitors annually, but with the public ban, they now choose to secure more guards to prevent people from entering the arena.
– In normal years, we do everything possible to get people here, but now we will have guards whose main mission is that people do not enter. That part is a little unusual. Now, there is not a person here who does not have a job during the elite career weekend. It extends to horse owners as well, so only working activists and officials are here, says Jörgen Forsberg.
Do you see a risk of people trying to enter?
– I hope they respect the situation we are in in society at large, but it would be awkward for us not to be prepared anyway. We have a meeting with the police and security companies next week, so we’re ready.
French horse Dijon and his cousin Romain Derieux took home the Elite race in 2019 in Solvalla. This year they will not start.
Photo: Christine Olsson / TT
At a sports level There are also some differences compared to previous years. In France, the racing season is on hiatus, which means that many horses are not in race condition. Yesterday, French coach Romain Derieux announced via twitter Last year’s winner Dijon will not participate in this year’s race.
Otherwise, few have historically been recorded so far.
– It is the sports manager Anders Malmrot who has the most frequent contacts there with assets, but now there are signs that France will open in mid-May and they have a good fast race in which French horses could have a race in the body and demonstrate they are in shape, he says.
– We may send out invitations a little later than usual. That we now only have four horses on May 1, it has never happened before.
At a time when you broadcast sports is a deficiency, Jörgen Forsberg believes that this year’s Elite race may have some advantage.
– It is clearly a golden position to showcase our fine jogging sport to a wider audience when there are not many other live sports to watch. So I see that as a good window to spread the gospel and absorb what we think is great about jogging.
The Elite Finals usually start on the afternoon of the last Sunday in May. However, due to the audience stoppage, this year’s final will be held at 8:30 pm and will be broadcast live on TV4 with the aim of setting a new audience record.
Read more: The jogging coach runs the risk of being closed after the whip
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