A clear change can be seen in Finland’s young skiers – experts and an experienced coach revealed the reasons for the wonderful World Cup success

Finland’s under-20 skiers were very successful at the World Championships in Whistler compared to previous years. The balance of the Finnish team was two world championships, one silver and two bronze.

Only in 2001 in Poland’s Karpacz-Szklarska have Finnish junior skiers been more successful, as at that time the team won three golds, one silver and two bronzes.

But if this year’s balance includes the under-23 medals, Whistler’s achievements rise to the same level as Karpacz-Szklarska, because Jasmin Kähärä won the sprint world championship in Canada.

Finland’s success could also have been affected by the absence of Russian skiers from competitions under the International Skiing Federation, as the Russians have always been very successful in prestigious youth competitions.

Pärmäkoski: Championship is not a guarantee

The junior world championship is a tough achievement, but it doesn’t guarantee anything. Those who won the World Championship gold 13 years ago know that Krista Pärmäkoski (at that time Lähteenmäki) and achieved the championship a couple of years ago Niilo Moilanen.

– That championship is no guarantee. There is still work to be done, but if you are a medalist, then you have the starting points to be able to succeed even as an adult. It gives you confidence if you dream of working as a professional skier, Pärmäkoski said.

– I noticed then that I am on the map and at the top of the world in speed among people of that age. It gave me confidence to do things and gave me a kick forward. That I seriously want to do this and see the card to the end, Moilanen said.

When Pärmäkoski won the World Championship gold, the media was not so interested in junior skiers. He was allowed to be more at peace than Moilanen, whose activities were already interesting because the competitions were organized in Vuokatti.

– It came as a bit of a surprise that there were so many inquiries and congratulations. It also had a positive effect on cooperative partnerships, Moilanen stated.

However, neither of the skiers experienced external pressure, and in the end, the championship did not change anything.

Pärmäkoski stated that it was just “sickly cool” for him to be successful and he wanted even harder to be even better in the coming years. The championship has retained its value to this day.

– Yes, that gold medal is nice on the shelf, since there haven’t been any at the adult level, Pärmäkoski laughed.

A clear change in Finnish skiers

Sports experts Kalle Lassila and Ville Nousiainen and ski coach of the Milano-Cortina group Glenn Lindholm have noticed a clear change in Finnish athletes over the years.

The Whistler Games were Lindholm’s 15th at this level, and over the years he has been able to follow e.g. Therese Johaugin, by Petter Northug, Aleksandr Bolshunov, Jessie Diggins, Dario Cologna, Charlotte Kallan, Johannes Hösflot Kläbon and the rise of Finns from juniors to successful adults.

According to Lindholm, they have all been united by one feature in their activities: a sense of purpose.

– This has also increased among young skiers in Finland. They know what they want and are willing to work to get it. In addition, they bear responsibility for their affairs. Today’s youth is in a certain way more ready to rise to the top in their sport, Lindholm reported from Canada.

Lassila and Nousiainen agree. The young Finnish skiers have grown spiritually and do not apologize for their bravery.

A hill jumper can also be put in the same category Vilho Palosaariwho returned Finland as junior world champion in Whistler after an 18-year hiatus.

– This is a small step, but Finnish ski jumping will do better after this, the director of ski jumping and combined sports Mika Kojonkoski said.

Janne Ahonenwho won two individual and two team world championships in his career in the youth series, considers Palosaari’s success a benchmark and a trend setter for Finnish ski jumping.

– When we were successful as a team on a wide front, those jumpers were benchmarks for others in the domestic hills. It was known that the top of the world goes there, Ahonen said.

– Back then, in everyday practice, you could compare where the tip goes. When it hasn’t been there, the hustle and bustle has gone to waste in many places.

Important learning competitions and steps forward

Nousiainen and Lassila remind that success in the under-20 World Championships is not something that makes you blissful, even if, for example, an Olympic champion Sami Jauhojärvi and world champion Pirjo Muranen and Pärmäkoski were also successful in juniors. For example Iivo Niskanen the best personal positions in this age group were fourth and twice seventh.

Nousiainen reminded that young people have very different development curves. Some are already physically ready, some are still in the process of growing and the results are made with just oxygen uptake instead of physics. Those skiers, who are now in the so-called intermediate terrain, can take enormous development steps in a year or two.

According to Lassila, the Finnish skiers who were expected to succeed were the ones who succeeded in Whistler. In his opinion, reaching the world championship is a tough achievement, and it shows that an athlete has the opportunity to develop towards the top of the world.

– The youth world championship means that the athlete is on such a path that at some point medals in adult competitions are also possible, Lassila said.

Lindholm considers the World Youth Championships an important step on a skier’s journey to becoming a top athlete. He sees the competitions as learning competitions, where you practice the practices of prestigious competitions, learn to deal with pressure and get to compare your level with the best in your age group.

There is still a long way to go to the level of Norway

Finland has had several lean years in Junior World Cup skiing, and even now the success was on the shoulders of individuals. According to Lindholm, there has always been a wave movement in cross-country skiing, and the fact that success depends on a few skiers is concreted in the messages, both to young people and adults.

Only five of the Finnish Junior World Cup medals have come from relays.

– We have not been successful in the messages, as a team. Now it seems that there are many very good age groups in Finland rushing towards the top. We may have found methods of action that will enable us to take athletes towards prestigious medals for adults, Lindholm estimates.

Finland is currently doing at least some things right. There has been more investment in sports high schools and various academies, and Nordic skiing, for example, has found its own home in Vuokatti.

According to Lindholm, Finland has a functioning coaching system for young people, and these fruits have been enjoyed during the beginning of the year. There have been championships and medals at the European Youth Olympic Festival under the age of 18, at the Junior World Skiing Championships as well as at the Universiade.

– But development always ends with satisfaction. The system can still be developed and things can be done with better quality. There is still a long way to go, especially to Norway’s level, at all levels, Lindholm stated.

In Nousiainen’s opinion, it has been good that the youth coaching has been centralized in Vuokatti, where the conditions are fine. However, he reminded that the groundwork in training is done with personal coaches, and the system of sports academies is not necessarily functional for everyone.

– It wouldn’t have worked for me, for example. When there’s only sports around all the time, it’s easy to feel pressure to exercise more and forget about rest. On the other hand, it trains the strongest of the strongest, because in the world you have to withstand the same kind of pressure and trust yourself.

A thousand dollar place to succeed

According to Lindholm and Urheilu’s experts, Finnish youth skiing is doing well at the moment. New skiers are ready to take responsibility for the results and a new generation is rising to challenge the giants. According to Lindholm, such a situation has not existed for a long time.

Nousiainen thinks it has been a pleasure to watch the successful skiers in Whistler now, because their skiing technique is significantly more developed than what was found in the juniors in Nousiainen’s youth.

– We also do the right kind of strength, because the athletes now look like endurance athletes and are strong at the same time. And many of them are good at distances from sprints to 30 kilometers. It bodes well, because the trend is the same worldwide, Nousiainen said.

Time will tell if the young people who are successful now will be able to rise to the top in the adult leagues. According to Lassila, it is about young athletes, but above all about young people. The higher you rise to a higher level, the more difficult it becomes for effective and rapid development.

– It requires the support of the cross-country and sports system and the surrounding environment. There are just as many challenges as we have different personalities. Finnish young skiers currently live in such a skiing culture and environment that if they want to succeed and develop, it is possible, Lassila said.

In Nousiainen’s opinion, the most important thing is not what is done after the youth series, but rather to reflect on what was done before that at the age of 16–20 and whether the development is boring at the threshold of the adult series.

– If mistakes are made at that age, the game is not lost. You can fix it if you are aware of it, and you won’t make a wrong analysis.

In Lindholm’s opinion, rising from a successful youth league to the top of the world for adults can be surprisingly difficult. In order to succeed, a functioning system, resources and high-quality coaching with accompanying activities are needed.

– Now it’s the best place to succeed with talented athletes – without adding too much pressure to their young shoulders, Lindholm said.