Emelie Forsberg

Emelie Tina Forsberg (born December 11, 1986) is a Swedish athlete specializing in trail running (skyrunning, mountain running) and ski mountaineering.

She has won repeated victories in different disciplines, including European and World Championships.

Ian Corless described Forsberg as: "Known for her incredible strength, endurance and break neck downhill running, she has also become an inspiration to men and ladies all over the world by her infectious passion and love of life which she daily shares via social media. No matter how hard the race, no matter how tough the conditions are, no matter how bad she is feeling, Emelie is guaranteed to provide a smile."

Emelie Forsberg grew up in the small village Noraström in Kramfors Municipality, some 40 km north of Härnösand on Sweden's High Coast.

Her father died when she was new-born and according to Forsberg her mother had a tough time combining work, studies and taking care of her two daughters.

Orienteering, trekking, climbing, skiing, foraging for mushrooms and berries were an integral part of her life since she was very young.

Forsberg's first serious trail race was the Swedish Fjällmaraton in 2009.

She had borrowed a backpack from a friend and brought a chocolate mud cake that she had baked.

Before the last big ascent she stopped for 20 minutes and ate the cake, got new energy and won the race.

Two years later she was back, did not stop to eat en route and improved her time by 30 minutes.

In 2011 Forsberg worked at the Turtagrø Hotel in Hurrungane on the outskirts of Jotunheimen National Park in Norway.

In May 2012 she was invited to run in an international trail event, Zegama-Aizkorri Mendi Maratoia, where she finished in 3rd place.

Her following trail event in July 2012, the Dolomites Skyrace, she won.

Says Forsberg: "It was insane. It was cool to realize that what I had been doing in my solitude in the Swedish mountains was a big sport in the Alps".

Forsberg moved from Storulvån to Tromsø in Norway, in order to study at the University of Tromsø, and run in the mountains there.

Prior to late 2012 Forsberg had no serious competition experience in ski mountaineering.

Her first race was in Chamonix on December 9 where she placed third.

Forsberg: "I was just back form The North Face 50 mile race in San Francisco and had maybe 3 days of skiing on a pair of Kilians old skis and said yes to join the race. Yeay! Oh man it was so fun! I didn´t really understod how the binding worked (I was a telemarker and a x country skier!) so I lost my skis in the uphill, I lost my skins and so many more small mistakes. But I enjoyed it, I had fun and I pushed hard."

In late December she placed second in a Swedish race in Åre after losing her ski skins and running one out of eight laps on foot.

Forsberg was a member of the Salomon team from 2012 to 2022, and was actively involved in the company's product development for trail running.

Shortly after, in January 2013, she won the Norwegian Championship by seven minutes over her closest rival, upon which she embarked on another round of skiing so that she was not available for interviews after her victory.

She followed up with Alpiniski later in the same month.

In early February she became French champion in the vertical event and a week later won bronze medals in the sprint and vertical events at the World Championships.

In the Skyrunning World Series Forsberg has been especially successful in the Ultra Series where she won every race in 2013-2015 except for the 2014 Trofeo Kima where she took a wrong turn when four hours into the race and half an hour below the course record time; she descended 500 m and had to ascend again, losing one hour, then worked her way back up the field to 2nd position.

Forsberg herself keeps a low profile; in a 2013 interview she answered the question "What are your strengths in ski mountaineering?"

thus: "Hmm. I don't have any direct strengths. I'm a bit mediocre both uphill and downhill, I'd say."

In 2014 when an established world class runner Forsberg was back again, improved her time by another 30 minutes and set a new course record.

Forsberg claims that she has only fallen twice while running, once during the 2014 Transvulcania race where she fell running uphill after being pushed from behind and sustained a hand and arm injury that required immediate medical care, once on a road when running with her boyfriend.

Apart from her favored ultra distance Forsberg runs races varying from the vertical kilometer to 100 mi, usually finishing in the top five when not winning, and often competing on consecutive days or three days in a row, as in the 2015 the Rut where she ran the vertical kilometer on Friday, the Sky 25 km distance on Saturday and finishing off with the Ultra 50 km distance on Sunday, comfortably winning and setting a new course record.

Forsberg runs 10 km in 36 minutes.

She is also a strong uphill runner as witnessed by her results in vertical kilometer races.

But her real strength is downhill running where she constantly outruns her competitors and sets new records.

Says Forsberg: "I’m so comfortable in that terrain so it doesn’t feel fast at all. Training helps and also I think it makes a lot of difference that I have always just played outside running on trails, rocks etc."

In ski mountaineering Forsberg's greatest achievement is in her own opinion winning the biennial Trofeo Mezzalama in 2015 with teammates Axelle Mollaret and Jennifer Fiechter, barely three minutes ahead of world champions Laëtitia Roux, Mireia Miró Varela and Séverine Pont-Combe and a full hour and a half ahead of the bronze laureats.

Said Forsberg a few days later: "I almost feel like I could finish my career."

As in Skyrunning she competes in all ski mountaineering distances, as well as team events.

She is also able to transition fast from winter to summer events and vice versa; one week after winning the 2015 Trofeo Mezzalama race on skis she won the 73 km Transvulcania by half an hour for her first Skyrunner World Series win of the season.

In a 2017 public lecture Forsberg stated that between 15 and 20 years of age she defined herself as a climber.

She moved to the Swedish mountains at age 18 and worked as a waitress in the Storulvån Mountain Lodge in the Åre Ski Area, where she convinced her boss to send her to a baking course.

While living in Storulvån, Forsberg ran in the mountains in her spare time for love of nature, for the fun of it, and as a means of transportation.