Eero Rantala was very disappointed after the Salpausselkä World Cup sprint. Rantala clearly qualified from the batch stage. The 19-year-old promise has shown promising performances this season.
BAY.
– A bit of a bad taste left in the mouth, he says Eero Rantala After the sprint qualifying of the Salpauselkä World Cup.
The bronze medalist of the Junior World Cup sprint has stood out from the crowd moments before, when the athletes leave the finish area after the Salpausselkä World Cup sprint qualifying. Eero Rantala carefully examines the scoreboard and perhaps spends the most time on it out of all 72 competitors.
Rantala was the 54th of the qualifier. He missed the next place by five seconds.
– We were quite far away. I’m not happy with the result. Nothing happened during the race. It just wasn’t enough, Rantala said.
In the interval, on a steep climb, Rantala was still a second away from the next place.
– I didn’t get enough work done on the hill, Rantala stated.
At the beginning of the year, 19-year-old Rantala won bronze in the sprint at the World Junior Championships in Canada. During the Adult World Championships, the Vuokatti Ski Team athlete competed in the Norwegian Youth Championships. He was fourth among the Norwegians in the traditional 20 km race.
– It was great. There is a really hard level and tough opponents. It was nice to ski, Rantala described.
Rantala felt that at that time there were suitable competitions for skiing in Norway.
– It’s interesting to ski against them. The national level is so tough, says Rantala.
Leg problems were visible in Lahti
Rantala’s early season was colored by leg problems. They bothered me until September. In Kainuun Sanomat at the beginning of January Vuokatti Ski Team Hannu Koivusalo told (you switch to another service), how Rantala developed upper body strength and balance thrust before the start of the season. Kainuu Sanomat described these as Rantala’s “special weapon.”
Now, however, the promise noticed on Salpausselkä’s demanding sprint track that his legs needed training.
– Legs need to get better. They haven’t been trained. It’s not sharp enough, Rantala stated about his situation.
The Salpausselkä sprint was Rantala’s second career World Cup sprint. In November 2021, Rantala was 60th in the traditional sprint at Ruka.
Even though the young promise got a prize medal this season, according to Rantala, the season has seen “basic performances.” The goal of the future is of course to manage even at the sharpest peak.
– Now I’ve been in two World Cup sprints and left far behind. We need to gain more speed in the sprint, Rantala stated.
The Finnish promise will also participate in the Salpausselkä World Cup on Sunday in the 20 km joint start race.