As usual, the continuation of the sports studio covers the most significant topics and events of the past winter sports weekend.
What speaks?
Brilliant female biathlon skiers are currently responsible for the toughest phenomenon in Finnish winter sports.
It has been known on the men’s side Tero Seppälän and Otto Invenius potential. In addition, the team has had a lot of width Olli Hiidensalo, Jaakko Rannan and Tuomas Harjulan in terms of. However, the top spots are tight.
The women’s Finnish tip is narrow but even sharper. Suvi Minkkinen answered Kontiolahti from Finland’s first podium place since Kaisa Mäkäräinen and the beginning of 2020. The athlete from Joutsan Pommi was a fine third in his home competition.
Before Christmas, Minkkinen showed no signs of congealing at the World Cup races held in Annecy, France, as he was again on the podium and fifth in Sunday’s joint start race. Places 3, 5, 7 and 10, as well as the sixth place in the overall World Cup competition, indicate a consistent level of performance.
The 29-year-old also made a splash in Annecy Venla Lehtonenwho shattered his career best by almost 30 notches with a single dash. The weekend brought him 7th, 13th and 23rd.
– Suvilla has definitely exceeded expectations. It’s great to see that the good progress has continued week after week. Kontiolahti’s good start was not a one-off, Kaisa Mäkäräinen packs in Urheilustudio.
There were challenging conditions on Sunday, as the rain turned to snow in the middle of the race. Minkkinen is known as a very hard shooter, but he didn’t have the best shooting day in the joint start race.
Minkkinen, who had to go to two penalty rounds, was still able to fight for hard positions with his clearly improved skiing speed.
The third place was separated by 22 seconds.
Mäkäräinen reminds that in the early season competitions, the rankings have been thrown around by many.
– Of course, a few big names have unfortunately been absent, which lowers the level of women a bit. For example, Italy Lisa Vitozzi has been off all December. I’m looking forward to seeing what Christmas brings. Finns also need good, smart practice game moves.
Mäkäräinen also mentions Norway as the absence of famous athletes Ingrid Landmark Tandrevoldinwho has suffered from cardiac arrhythmias. The Norwegian told NRK that he had heart surgery last week.
According to Mäkäräinen, we can expect podium places from Minkkinen in the future.
– He was fifth now, so why couldn’t he be third. Now there were two fines, so it wasn’t a perfect performance. It gives hope that there is a reserve.
Who surprised?
The Finnish winter sports season has started on the whole with quite positive signs. In addition to Minkkinen and Lehtonen, the alpine skier has positively surprised, among others Eduard Hallberga combined athlete Ilkka Herola and camber calculator Severi Vierelä.
On Friday in Georgia, 23-year-old Vierelä was responsible for Finland’s first tumbling World Cup podium place in almost 16 years. Kumparesalku was once a strong success for Finland, but in recent years it has been quiet for a long time.
Herola, on the other hand, was second in Saturday’s race in Ramsau. The top ranking can be counted as a surprise after the difficult last season.
There were a total of three podium places in skiing over the weekend, when Minja Korhonen was third in Ramsau on the women’s combined side.
This is a good place to start the Christmas break.
Who was disappointed?
If in many other sports there have been great twists and turns, it’s sticky in ski jumping. In Saturday’s race, not a single Finnish man made it to the second round. Antti Aalto was 25th as the best Finn in Sunday’s race.
On the women’s side Jenny Rautionaho on the other hand, has performed ok, but the top 10 places like last season have had to wait.
At least on the men’s side, there are no indications that the Finns will reach the podium this season as well.
What the hell?
Experienced biathlon skier Tero Seppälä responded to his best performance of the season on Sunday, when he was 17th in the joint start race. Seppälä’s weekend also included a variety of mixing.
In Saturday’s pursuit race, Seppälä collided with a German skier and fell. The Finn’s race became difficult when the gun crashed in the situation.
In Sunday’s mass start race, Seppälä, on the other hand, skied without a pole for a long time after the first shooting position.
What next?
Even before Christmas, it will be printed when Eduard Hallberg and Jesper Pohjolainen are participating in Alta Badia’s slalom on Monday. doesn’t show the race.
After Christmas, the cross-country World Cup season continues with the already classic Tour de Ski tour. Finland is on the move this year with a strong team, when, for example, Iivo Niskanen, Kerttu Niskanen and Krista Pärmäkoski are involved.
Kerttu Niskanen has had a good time at the Tour de Ski in recent years. Last year, he won two races in traditional skiing.
As in the previous year, he finished in the top three in the overall race.
Situations of the overall winter sports competitions:
Updated 10.41: Corrected that Mäkäräinen’s last podium finish was from 2020, not 2019.