Niko Kytösaho and Antti Aalto of the Mäkimaa team will end their season in the combined competition. Kytösaho didn’t get the lead he hoped for on the hill section.
Anu Karttunen,
Laura Arffman
In recent years, the Mäkimaa team’s jumpers have had a tradition of participating in the season’s last combined SC competition. So this time too, because the national team participated in the combined competition in Ounasvaara Niko Kytösaho and Antti Aalto.
– It’s such a tradition that every year we try to attract everyone to join us. We are a little disappointed when yesterday’s Finnish champion said a couple of weeks ago that he was going to go skiing, but at the last minute withdrew, Kytösaho said referring to Kasperi Valto.
– There was little to say.
Kytösaho and Aalto were the clear top jumpers on Rovaniemi’s HS100 hill. Kytösaho jumped 98 meters and Aalto was one meter behind him. The two thus get to the 10 km skiing section in a clear lead, but Kytösaho doesn’t think his lead will last very long.
– Just yesterday it was considered that two years ago the skiing time of our people was just under 36 minutes and (Perttu) Reponen dragged to 23 minutes. If they (the combined men) come down to that 45 meters, then there is a small seam. But still, they would probably pass in the last round, Kytösaho laughed.
The united men did not care about Kytösaho’s wish, because Otto Niittykoski jumped 93 meters and the race’s pre-favorite Ilkka Herola 91 meters. Kytösaho’s lead to Aalto is 8 seconds and to Niittykoski 1.02 and to Herola 1.20. The difference between Herola and Niittykoski is 18 seconds.
Finland’s number one jumper this season, Kytösaho, already received one SC medal from the weekend in Ounasvaara, when he was second in Friday’s normal hill race. Kytösaho, who was in a good spring mood at the World Cup, admitted that his race was weak, but on the other hand, he has focused on jogging for the last couple of weeks. In his opinion, Valto’s championship was deserved.
Next, Kytösaho focuses on skiing, as the skiing part starts today at 2:15 p.m.
– So it’s terrible to end the season like this, but fun at the same time. Let’s see if (the combined WC championships) could be held in Ruka, then there would be differences on that hill, he stated.
You can watch the combined skiing part on TV2, Areena and the app from 14:10.