Alfred Buskqvist has been on the sprint scene for several years. Now the Swedish cross-country skier shifts focus and set his sights on Ski Classics.

Buskqvist grew up on the Swedish west coast, went to the ski high school in Mora, competed at the Junior World Championships in cross-country skiing, and achieved top international places in rollerskis.

In recent years, the focus has mainly been on sprint skiing, and during the 2020-21 season, he got involved and went to two World Cup competitions. In Falun, he advanced to the quarterfinals:

“I have developed all the time, but until last season I did not feel that I took the development steps that I wanted to see and feel. I have also previously thought about whether I should take the step over to invest in long-distance skiing. Now I chose to focus on it. It feels very inspiring,” says 25-year-old Alfred Buskqvist, who a week ago was presented as one of the new additions to Team Ramudden.

What is it like as an experienced traditional skier who opens the door to compete in Ski Classics? Did a lot of teams look for you?

 “There are several who have been interested, and it is a situation that I am not directly used to (laugh). But it felt good actually to have some negotiating position. I chose Ramudden because they have also previously chosen to invest in skiers who may not be the “obvious choices.” They have given a chance to people who want to develop through the team. Then they have had interesting training collaborations, good activities around the group plus it seems to be a very good bunch.”

Why do you think that more and more people are taking the step over to dedicate themselves to long-distance skiing?

 “There are several parts, but some in addition to the challenge of long-distance skiing, is the financial part. Both when it comes to pure finances but also the support around. Because many pieces are already fixed with competitions, travel, camps and all that, this means that more people can invest in it. Then the prize money is meager for the big events at the traditional competitions in Sweden. You get SEK 6,000 if you win a competition in the Scandinavian Cup, and it is the same as you get in a small long-distance race at home. So that’s a big difference.”

How much will you change in your training?

“There will, of course, be more double poling. I have double poled quite a lot before, but now it will be even more. Then as a sprinter, there are many workouts that you want to run to make sure you get what you want in terms of speed. Now it will be quite a lot more training. Then you get to see how those changes fit. I see this as a multi-year dedication, but I want to be a good part of Ski Classics already this winter. I am interested in the green jersey (sprint) for this season, and I will work to develop those qualities. But then there is a balance between what the opportunities look like, and how great a chance there is to take good places both in individual races but also in total in Ski Classics,” says Buskqvist who lives in Östersund where he works part time as a test leader at Vintersportcentrum (Winter Sports Center).

But as a skier from Gothenburg, his roots are still there, and as a skier in Stern ski club, there is an extra-strong connection to Vasaloppet (where the club year after year is one of the biggest clubs).

“I would say that Vasaloppet is the race that I currently have the preference for. This is because it is not so hilly or heavy double poling. Then it is the case that as a ‘Sternare,’ Vasaloppet is very close to my heart. I know how much attention those who ski for six hours get among the ‘Sternåkarna.’ So I must aim to get in there then,” laughs Alfred Buskqvist, who on the first Sunday in March this year finished 28th at Vasaloppet in a time of 3 hours and 38 minutes.

Now he has just started training ahead of his first season with full focus on long-distance skiing.