A bad setback for Krista Pärmäkoski – Finland with quite a surprise team for Friday’s rare race | Sports in a nutshell

The cross-country skiing world cup continues in Switzerland’s Engadin, where the first trip is a rare mixed relay.

Cross-country mixed relay in Engadin, Switzerland on Friday 24.1. at 4:50 p.m. Broadcast on TV2, Areena and the app.

Last seen in action at the Tour de Ski Krista Pärmäkoski is scheduled to return this weekend to the World Cup qualifiers after his training camp.

However, Pärmäkoski said on Instagram from a small, annoying setback.

– In the playing places, but we still have to wait for our own innings. Last weekend, I brought a little flu with me to the Lavaze camp and I’m still in the process of recovering from it, so I won’t be part of tomorrow’s mixed relay, Pärmäkoski writes.

– It’s annoying and sad, but my own way of thinking is that you’re either healthy or sick, there’s no middle ground in sports. If and when your own state of being is considered a lottery, then you are not healthy. So the only option left is to jump to the side until there is no drawing.

In the mixed relay, rarely seen in the World Cup, four by five kilometers are skied. First two sections on traditional, then two on free.

The Finnish team is interesting. Skied second in 20 kilometers (p) last weekend in Les Rousses Iivo Niskanen opens the message with traditional.

The second part is taken by the one who excelled in the sprint races Jasmi Joensuu.

Finland’s first free section is skied by a World Cup returner Remi Lindholmwhose season has been difficult. He last participated in the World Cup in December in Lillehammer, and the season’s best ranking from the World Cup is 21st place in Ruka’s 20-kilometer freestyle.

Finland’s anchor is Vilma Ryytty. 23-year-old Ryytty assured Les Rousses in the World Cup and earned more screen spots. In Les Rousses, Ryytty took the best ranking of his career in the World Cup, when he was 16th in the 10 kilometers of freestyle skiing.

A total of 19 teams will start in the mixed relay in Engadin. You can see the lineups of the teams From the FIS website.

This is the fifth time that the mixed relay is contested at the World Cup. A year ago in Goms, Switzerland, Sweden’s first team celebrated victory before Sweden’s second team and Norway.

In addition to Sweden’s two victories (2024 and 2023), Norway (2022) and the USA (2022) have celebrated the victory of the mixed relay.

Finland has been on the podium once, i.e. in the first mixed relay in Falun, Sweden, in March 2022. Then Finland was second in the group Kerttu Niskanen, Perttu HyvärinenIivo Niskanen and Krista Pärmäkoski.

In the Engadin, there will be free sprints on Saturday and a 20 kilometer free co-start competition on Sunday.