Vuorela joins the team as a replacement for Arsi Ruuskanen, who was injured in the combined competition. Vuorela will arrive in Planica on Monday.
12:54•Updated 12:58
Alternate of the cross-country skiing team Markus Vuorela will travel to the World Championships in Planica on Monday. He comes to the team injured in the combined competition Arsi Ruuskanen as a follower.
Ruuskanen injured his leg in Friday’s combined competition on his advertising pole on the side of the track and will no longer be able to compete in the Planica Games. With these prospects, Vuorela will at least replace him in the 15 km freestyle skiing competition on Wednesday.
The head coach Teemu Pasanen called Vuorela on Saturday morning. Vuorela decided to go to the games after doing a mat test in Vuokatti on Sunday morning.
– I got the flu a couple of weeks ago. With the mat test, I wanted to make sure that I had recovered from it, and after that I decided to go to the Games, Vuorela, reached by phone from Vuokatti, told STT.
– I didn’t feel like going to Planica just to test my fitness.
The mat test done with free skiing was successful.
– There have been better tests, but the result was very close to my best mat test results, Vuorela revealed.
After the flu, Vuorela has trained for seven days as usual, but the mat test was the first intensive training.
A flight and a long drive
On Monday morning, Vuorela has a flight to Munich, from where the flight continues to Planica with an almost four-hour drive. Preparing for the first World Cup start is similar to a normal World Cup weekend.
– I’ve lost that now that I haven’t been able to do ski tests at the competition venue like others. And I haven’t been able to use new equipment, which we usually get in connection with value competitions, Vuorela said.
– But luckily I get at least this much preparation time. I just have to hope that I can go around the race tracks before the race. After all, there are quite limited training times in the games.