Ristomatti Hakola, one of Finland’s top skiers, says he suffered from health concerns and will take a training break for the rest of the year.
Matti Lehtisaari,
Laura Arffman
14:17•Updated 14:54
National team skier Cross mat Hakola looked good in the Finnish Cup relay in Vuokatti. Hakola brought his team Jämin Jänte at the top of the relay to the second exchange, but there are worries in the background.
Hakola said that his health has deteriorated and the amount of training has fallen short of what was hoped for.
– In terms of health, it’s been pretty deep. There was a long break in training. About a month and a half ago, I did my first free run. A month ago, I would not have believed that I would be here now, Hakola told Urheilu.
– It’s been so bad that I didn’t dare to leave at all, because I didn’t know how long I could last, Hakola said.
31-year-old Hakola did not want to tell more about his problems. Health concerns have tormented the man in previous seasons as well.
A training break for the rest of the year
Hakola now plans to take a training break for the rest of the year in order to save his season.
– Now I was thinking of training for a couple of months so that I can ski comfortably again. The next time we will come to the line will probably be at the beginning of next year, Hakola explained his plans.
Although the situation is a bit worrying, Hakola said on Sunday that he also enjoyed skiing.
– It was nice for a long time, even though my skiing wasn’t quite what it used to be, Hakola thought.
Jämin Jänne finished second in Vuokatti’s relay. Imatra’s Urheilijat was first in the relay with a difference of 1.6 seconds.
FINNISH CUP MESSAGES, STREAMED
Men, 3×9 km
1) ImatrU 1.07.37,3 (Olli Ahonen, Ville Ahonen, Miro Karppanen)
2) Jämin J +1.6 (Markus Vuorela, Ristomatti Hakola, Lauri Lepistö)
3) Puijon HS +7.2 (Petteri Koivisto, Joonas Sarkkinen, Perttu Hyvärinen)
4) TaivalkMV-85 +41.9 (Heikki Korpela, Oskari Hökkä, Lauri Mannila)
5) KuusamEV +1.53,9 (Niko Husu, Juuso Tossavainen, Petteri Kymäläinen)
6) Vuokatti STK +2.03,0 (Miska Poikkimäki, Emil Liekari, Eero Rantala)
Women, 3×6 km
1) Kainuun HS 51.55,9 (Johanna Ukkola, Anne Kyllönen, Anni Alakoski)
2) Vantaa HS +54.8 (Rebecca Immonen, Anni Kainulainen, Jasmi Joensuu)
3) Vuokatti STK +59.3 (Jasmin Kähärä, Eveliina Piippo, Katri Lylynperä)
4) IkaalU +1.23,5 (Maaret Pajunoja, Katariina Lonka, Hilla Niemelä)
5) IisalmV ST +2.14,7 (Roosa Riikola, Siiri Kaijansinkko, Vilma Ryytty)
6) Espoo HS +3.38,7 (Vilja Kauranen, Pinja Aaltonen, Selene Rossi)