Biathlete Tuomas Harjula blew across the game after the Beijing Olympics and has raced in numerous tests during the spring. However, no clear cause has been found for the oxygen transport problems.
The biathletes of the Finnish national team have officially started training for the coming season this week. In the second season, a couple of times in the World Cup toned Tuomas Harjula instead still spend a holiday under the sun of Rhodes.
If everything had gone according to plan, 23-year-old Harjula would still have competed in early April. But the season went far beyond plans and after the Beijing Olympics, Harjula decided to blow the game across.
– When nothing came of skiing the race, I decided that I would try to find out the things and reasons for what to look for, Harjula, who was reached by telephone from the heat of the south, told Urheil.
During the Beijing Olympics, Harjula complained in an interview with STT that he has problems with oxygen transport and that there is a difference of up to one-fifth between the best and worst tests. He has been diagnosed with exercise-induced asthma, but last winter’s problems were mostly due to the muscles not getting oxygen and oxygen uptake not working normally in the maximum range.
Harjula’s lungs have been studied before, and this spring he has undergone numerous examinations – including heart examinations, laboratory tests and a carpet test, but no clear reason has been found. Harjula also tried a three-week complete training break, but that didn’t help either.
– At least there’s nothing to say it’s because of that. It’s been really frustrating and that’s why I couldn’t hack my head on the wall anymore in the winter, because it hasn’t solved it yet.
The respite did only good
In the second season, Tuomas Harjula rose to the headlines when he was 14th on the normal trip of the Kontiolahti World Cup as the best Finnish man. A couple of weeks later, in Hochfilzen’s message, Harjula used the Finnish men’s team in the top fights. However, the good season did not continue, and Harjula received indications of this already during his training season, which went smoothly.
– Last season, the best and worst skiing of the season could come in the same week. There was a really big variation in performance.
Harjula’s best place finish in the World Cup last season was 40th place in Anterselva’s normal distance, but most of the time his results were on the worse side of 80th place.
Harjula is frustrated by such a variation, as he knows that he will be able to be at least at the World Cup points on a good day and in the top 20 on a real day. Harjula, who lives in Vuokatti and represents Tuusula Voima-Veikko, wants to get back to a good level in the coming season. According to him, a long break from the competition and taking the distance to the sport has been a good draw, as he now has enough motivation to practice.
– A little respite has only done good. Since the spring of 2019, I have practically not had any kind of break in training, Harjula said.
– I am sure that the condition can still be found and I strongly believe that the problem will be solved.
The national team pack is still open
Tuomas Harjula has made his personal coach Niko Aapajärven co-operation for a long time and the duo will continue this in the coming period. Changes will be made to the training, above all in terms of volume and strength training.
– The intention is to reduce the amount of training and do more intensive training sessions. That is, more effective training and fewer hours.
There will certainly be changes in the training of the Finnish national team as well Jonne Kähkönen after that the head coach of the national team became a Norwegian Erik Bartlett Kulstad. Harjula admits that he only knows as much about the new coach as what he has read in the media and the athletes were not asked for their opinion on the choice of the head coach.
When Bartlett Kulstad’s contract was released on Monday, the national team had a 45-minute internal briefing before that, but Harjula said it didn’t provide any groundbreaking information.
– The new head coach seems good, but I don’t know anything about the camps, for example, and no groups have been selected, so it’s hard to say any feeling or how the situation seems. The pack is still quite open, Harjula said.