Severi Vierelä returned the Finnish backstroke to the prize positions of the World Cup after a break of years. Vierelä now leaves with a smile on his face to seek more success.
Severi Vierelä23, did something in Bakuriani that the Finnish freestyle people had dreamed of for a long time: he achieved the prize place in the World Cup in backstroke.
Vierelä was third with 80.80 points. The race was won by France Benjamin Cavet With 84.08 points and second place fell Canada Michael Kingsbury with 82.93 points.
At the turn of the 2000s, the Finnish kumperesalku was on the rise and success came from doors and windows, but in recent years it has only been quieter.
Jimi Salonen was second in doubles in 2016, but the previous world cup award place for doubles is from 2009. At that time Tapio Luusua was the second in Norway.
– It’s a pretty big deal to finally get a podium in the humps. Hopefully this will inspire more young people to this sport, Vierelä, reached from Georgia, smiled and admitted that the award place is also important to him.
– It always feels good. I am really satisfied that I could be the one who took the podium.
The native of Jyväskylä, representing Ruka Slalom, debuted in the World Cup six years ago, but has been skiing there regularly since the 2020–21 season.
He was already on a strong rise a couple of years ago, ranked in the top ten in both humps and double humps, but the season ended prematurely with a broken tibia and an operation on the table.
Last winter, Vierelä came back and established his level as a final scorer. This season, he has taken one more step forward, as he already finished sixth at the opening of the Ruka World Cup.
Vierelä believes that the biggest reason for raising the level can be found in jumping exercises.
– In the early season, I trained a lot of jumps, so I didn’t have to put extra thought into them during competition training. I have been able to focus more on the bill. That’s when the pieces slowly start to fall into place, Vierelä thought.
– I have trained hard in the summer so that I can count more and can concentrate better during training.
In Bakuriani, Vierelä had a tight battle for third place with Sweden by Walter Wallberg with. Vierelä was 0.14 points better than Sweden.
According to Vierelä, the day was quite a rollercoaster, as the exercises did not go well at all.
– I got a good kick in that final count, I just let it burn, and it took me all the way to the super final. I just went there to enjoy and do my best. It was rewarded with third place, and the smile hasn’t stopped since its fall at all, Vierelä said and stated that the final fall wasn’t even perfect.
– There is still room for improvement. I was moving with a slightly easier jump. I played by catching those jumps in time, and that tactic seemed to work.
Vierelä admitted that the award place now increases hunger. Although he had already been close to the top spot before, he now knows that it is possible.
– I know that I have the potential for everything, so let’s move forward with a smile. Tomorrow, the couples will be right away, so we’ll see what happens there. I always set out to do my best in whatever circumstances I can.