January 22, 2015 – After 4.5 years of preparation, less than a month remains until the opening of the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2015 in Falun, Sweden on February 18.

Interest in the Championships is increasing day-by-day. With 126,000 pre-sold tickets, there is great demand for the events. In addition, almost 16,000 people have registered as Friends of Falun 2015 on the official website.

Many athletes consider the World Ski Championships in the Nordic countries to be just as important as the Olympic Winter Games, and many nations are interested in participating in Falun 2015. Athletes from 60 different countries have been entered to compete so far. In addition to the traditional nations such as Sweden, Norway and Finland, Falun will welcome athletes from Trinidad and Tobago and from the Kingdom of Tonga, among others.

Continuous activity is now underway at Lugnet Arena from early in the morning until late in the evening. Grandstands, the festival pavilion and other temporary infrastructure are being built. Test competitions were held in all three disciplines in the past two weeks.

Many volunteers already worked at the test events and they will be returning in even greater numbers in one month’s time. Falun 2015 has recruited a total of 1,800 volunteers.

“Volunteers are our most important resource. Without them, there won’t be World Championships. We hope that they will be happy and proud to be part of the execution of one of the biggest winter sport events ever held in Sweden,” said Sven von Holst, CEO of Falun 2015.