The maintenance team of the Finnish biathlon team spent long days at the World Championships successfully. They also know how to have fun. As proof, there is a fresh rap in the booth.
The performances of the Finnish biathlon team at the World Championships were minor victories, but the maintenance team did not care.
A four-man poppoo is responsible for the skis of Finnish biathletes: Two Estonians, one Latvian and one Finnish.
When Urheilu visited the service booth at the World Championships in Nove Mesto, there was refreshing rap music.
Estonian Morten Priksin according to the booth, rap plays the most. He has even made one song himself, which is locked in the service booth.
The song describes the work of a maintenance man. It was born on a long road trip from Finland to Europe.
– I started writing some words and rhymes. Hit the walkie-talkie when we had two cars. There was a rap battle. The words came from that, Priks describes.
It was recorded at a friend’s house. It is said that another song is coming, but it has not been released yet.
Over the years, cross-country skiing has seen a lot of different maintenance upheavals and various conflicts. In the Finnish biathlon team, however, the atmosphere in the service booth seems to be at its peak.
In a team of four, the working languages are a mixture of Estonian and Finnish.
– All three are quite talented and positive people. For me, as a maintenance manager, the most important thing is to have positive people, Estonian maintenance manager Marek Sander describes his colleagues.
In cross-country skiing, there has also been a lot of talk about the stress experienced by maintenance men. Sander dispels the myth for his part.
– It is never stressful. Everyone has their own responsibility, Sander describes.
In the group, Priks makes sure that there is enough of everything. Risto Uusivirta responsible for hand patterns. Latvian Robert Slotins is responsible for ski tests.
The days are really long.
– We came to the service booth every morning at nine in the morning. When there were late night races, you went back to the hotel between nine and ten. Some days there was food left, some days not, Uusivirta describes.
Great result in iron condition
There were 200–300 pairs of skis to be tested at the World Championships, which, according to the maintenance men, is an average amount for a small biathlon country.
There were a dozen wins in the test at the beginning. With the weather remaining the same in Nove Mesto, the number of tests stabilized at around six to eight different creams.
– About fluoride-free creams, it is not known how they will be used until the end. You will find out when you ski 20 kilometers and see how the products perform, Uusivirta describes the work.
Slotins and Uusivirra accumulated the hardest skiing kilometers in the World Championships.
– Last week it was 30–40 kilometers every day, Slotins said before the finals.
The maintenance men of the Finnish national team are therefore in excellent condition.
– I ran 3,000 meters on the track for fun in the summer. It was at 9:30, says Slotins.
The Latvian reinforcement of the Finnish team speaks very good Finnish. Slotins learned Finnish while studying in Muonio.
Slotins and Sander say that the maintenance has been at the level of the best in the world.
– We have been to post-tests and have been quite close to other countries’ skis. It seems that the skis have been good at these World Championships, says Slotins.
However, maintenance manager Sander reminds us that there is always room for improvement. He gives the games a grade of 7 or 8.
– There is always room for improvement. In this job, the grade is never ten. I have received good feedback from the athletes. Everything has gone well, Sander described before the relay race.