The national cross country team’s head coach Teemu Pasanen believes that the spearheads of the Finnish team are in good shape.
Anu Karttunen,
Laura Arffman
The World Ski Championships will be held in Planica, Slovenia, from 21 February to 5 March. The races are shown on channels.
There are only two and a half weeks until the World Championships in Nordic skiing, and the last signs for the prestigious competitions have been given. The head coach of skiing Teemu Pasanen stated after the World Cup in Toblach that there are no longer any big question marks in Planica’s World Cup team selections.
– Yes, the teams are starting to be clear. During last weekend and this weekend, even the last places have been managed, Pasanen said.
Do we think about anything anymore in the selections?
– Not really. There are still small confirmations about what the trip choices are, who skis which trips. That’s really all that’s left.
The last skiing world cup before the World Cup in Planica did not offer the Finns great success or surprises. The best result of the Toblach weekend was on the women’s side Krista Pärmäkoski Ninth place in the 10 kilometer freestyle skiing and Perttu Hyvärinen 11th place. In the relays, both Finnish teams crossed the finish line in fifth place, but the women’s ranking went up a notch due to Germany’s rejection.
Above all, on the men’s side, what made Pasa happy was that Italy edged ahead of Norway to win and Finland was also in the fight.
– Ivo (Neck) and Perttu showed that they are still in good spirits.
Cross mat Hakolan was supposed to ski in Toblach in the relay, but he missed out due to mild flu symptoms. Markus Vuorela skied the opening leg of the men’s relay and gave a good display of his fitness. Hakola, the recent Finnish sprint champion, has competed very sparingly this season due to health problems.
Pasanen did not want to answer what Hakola’s situation is or whether Planica’s team will receive possible reinforcements from the successful youth World Cup team.
Read also: 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
Spearheads OK
According to the head coach, the spearheads of the Finnish skiing team are in good shape. Kerttu Niskanen leads the women’s regular distance Cup and has been in good shape throughout the season. Pasanen believes that Niskanen is the result maker for the Finns on the women’s side.
Krista Pärmäkoski was in good shape at the Tour de Ski, but had to leave the tour after falling ill. After this, going to Pärmäkoski has been bumpy at times.
– Now he is back, and there is still time for the value races. I believe that Krista is in good shape there, Pasanen said.
On the men’s side, Iivo Niskanen has also come back, and Pasanen believes that Niskanen will be able to ski at top speed in the prestigious competitions.
– Perttu has been consistently confident. He hasn’t quite made it to the top, but to the top ten. On the other hand, when the Norwegians are cleared from the front, the positions will improve.
Some of the skiers of the Finnish team left Toblach directly for the high altitude camp. Some of the male skiers who ski normal distances will travel back to the preparatory camp in Toblach in a week and will move directly to Planica from there.
Sprint skiers travel directly to Planica on the 16th. At that time, they had time to prepare and do the last preparatory exercises on the sprint track, because the World Championships for the Finns start on February 23 with traditional skiing sprints.
The World Ski Championships will be held in Planica, Slovenia, from 21 February to 5 March. The races are shown on channels.