Finnish skiing in the dark – now the athletes reveal how they survived the summer | Sports in a nutshell

The Finnish skiers are looking for hard training this weekend and, on the other hand, Finnish roller skiing championship medals in the hot Vuokatti.

On Saturday, the program included the sprints, where the women’s medal order was Jasmin Kähärä, Hilla Niemelä and Jasmi Joensuu. In the men’s category, the three were in the order of superiority in the final Lauri Vuorinen, Olli Ahonen and Joni Mäki.

Although the Ski Association’s financial predicament has been deliberately left in the background during the summer season, the atmosphere as Trondheim heads into the World Cup season is still thoughtful.

The ski association’s financial crisis took away, for example, the camps of a high place, and there is no complete clarity about the association’s plans for the winter season. Some of the top names have prepared for the competition season in their home country, for some, high-placed camps are possible with private money.

Pärmäkoski collected mainly the training load

Placed fourth in the sprint final Krista Pärmäkoski didn’t regret not being on the podium. In the final, he did the work, Kähärä pulled away and passed at the end – as did Niemelä and Joensuu.

– It was a bit predictable. For me, of course, it’s the only tactic in this kind of sprint. I purposely went hard in the semifinals, because I knew that if at some point in the World Cup there is going to be a sprint, then you have to go hard in the semifinals there as well.

Pärmäkoski was the fastest of the women in qualifying, preliminaries and semi-finals, but no longer in the final of six skiers.

– If I had wanted to ski today to win the race, I should have skied a little differently. However, these (roller skiing competitions) are hard workouts, and that’s what I’m going for head first. I am gathering training load for the future, revealed Pärmäkoski.

Pärmäkoski says that the summer has included “a little bit of everything”, but his condition seems to be “just fine”. With confidence, he can continue the early season.

– I guess no one knows exactly what that winter will look like yet (due to the financial difficulties of the Ski Association). To some extent, I have made my own decisions for this summer, when there was no longer a high-altitude camp. However, it has worked for me in the past and was a clear choice for my own program.

– I really haven’t had time to think about or worry about winter since I’ve gone ahead of summer, Pärmäkoski states.

Self-paid high-altitude camping is also available on Kähärä

Jasmin Kähärä, who won the race, thanked Pärmäkoski for the good final pace. The number one sprinter was happy that he could “properly acidify” his body after a long time, when the program had not yet included such hard moves in the previous training period.

– Camping has changed, when high-altitude camping is no longer provided by the association. However, I personally found it important, and they are now self-published. We’ll see what it is when the competition season starts. At least I don’t know anything else about it myself, says Kähärä.

According to Kähärä, his entire end of September will be spent in Vuokatti. In October, he travels to a two-week high altitude camp in Italy. Soon after that, the competition season starts in Vuokatti.

– I haven’t thought about (the reduction in financial support) too much, nor how it has affected. I’m just focused on good training. We have had a good team throughout the training season and we have worked well, praises Kähärä.

Vuorinen trained in Norway

Lauri Vuorinen, who won the men’s sprint race, spared himself in the semi-finals, when he was the first in his division, but clearly slower than the other medalists Joni Mäki and Olli Ahonen.

– A good and even day. I was able to ski all the time with good technique and strong pushes. Tactically, it was also a very successful day.

The one who celebrated the SM gold a year ago Eero Rantala missed the final this time due to a pole break in the semi-final.

– Of course, the tough guy fell into it, but that is part of the nature of the sport, both in roller skiing and sprinting. I myself crashed here last year and missed the finals then. That kind of thing hurts. This made for a good race and training, guided Vuorinen.

According to Vuorinen, he has had a successful summer and lots of training – especially in June-July. In August, Vuorinen was at a camp in Norway, where he had some tough competitions. With the same template, he continues and prepares now in Vuokatti.

– I’ve had a good training season, even though there haven’t been any high-place camps of the Ski Association. It’s a bit of an individual question in the endgame, who wants it. I myself haven’t used it in the last season and I haven’t really used it this season. I have been able to do high-quality exercises even at a low level, says Vuorinen.

Vuorinen emphasizes that there is a really good mood in the A national team, and the association’s financial situation has not been discussed there. The focus has only been on training.

– You could always say that things could be better, but we have been able to create very good training conditions.

– There are also really good training conditions in Vuokatti. It’s up to you how you do those exercises and what kind of training sessions you can create. It’s not just about the place, reminds Vuorinen.

“If only the money was enough to get to the Games”

The situation is even tougher for the representatives of the B national skiing team behind the brightest Finnish leader, the athlete’s purse is tight.

The well-known sprinter Eero Rantala, who kept a good pace in the qualifying and heats, suffered a broken pole at the start of the semi-finals and lost his dream to the finals.

– Never before has the rod broken right at the start. My condition felt good and I got a good workout here, but it’s not appropriate to give so much line that you would ski with a broken pole, Rantala laughed.

Rantalakin is looking for extra speed for the dawn of winter from a self-funded high-altitude camp.

– For the athletes of the B national team, it (the association’s financial difficulties) can be seen in the fact that they train mainly in their home countries. The athletes will then have more money, and the quality will have to be compromised a bit. Considering this, we have a really good and functioning system in the B national team. There is daily coaching, not just camping. Every week you train together a couple of times.

– When you know that Vuokatti is one of the best training places, then it (financial discipline) is not a big deal mentally. If only the money was enough to make it to the games as a team. That would be desirable, exclaims Rantala at the end of the interview.

Those who registered for Saturday’s sprint race were left out Katri Lylynperä and Cross mat Hakola. Kerttu Niskanen should be involved in the women’s 10 km SC roller skiing event that will be contested on Sunday.