Maurice Manificat’s career ended at Holmenkollen in an emotional way.
Roope Visuri,
Laura Arffman
Incredible. Unbelievable. A French skiing icon Maurice Manificat repeats one and the same word in an interview with Urheilu at the Holmenkollen ski stadium.
Manificat’s handsome career is over. The 37-year-old multiple World Cup and Olympic medalist ended his career at the legendary 50 kilometer race in Holmenkollen.
He finished in 47th place, more than nine minutes behind the winner Johannes Hösflot Kläboa after. However, the result was not the most important thing on Sunday.
Many teammates were also waiting for Manificat at the finish line. They had Merci, or “thank you” in Finnish, and the skier’s initials written on their competition vests.
The teammates also had a sparkling drink. Manificat had to make a program number known especially from formula one. Manificat had to drink fizzy drink from his own ski jacket.
The Ällö sparkling drink trick was visible in the pictures published on Manificat’s Instagram account.
When he reached the finish line, Manificat was in tears.
– It was incredible! I couldn’t breathe anymore because I was so emotional, Manificat described the decision of his career to .
Manificat won four Olympic medals and four World Cup medals in his career. The others came from messages, except the 15-kilometer World Cup silver in Falun’s freestyle skiing in 2015.
Many times, Manificat was in the thick of things when the Finnish men tried to reach the medals in the relay races. Finland finally grabbed a relay medal at last year’s World Championships in silver place after a 14-year hiatus. In between, France was often ahead of Finland in the medal race.
– It was an incredible career. All those fights in the posts (Ivo) From the neck and against other Finns. All those battles against the Swedes. All the emotions and the French team. Certain results from the World Cup. Podiums, victories, World Cup medals and Olympic medals. This has been incredible, Manificat expressed.
In the World Cup, Manificat celebrated victory ten times. There were 34 prize-giving places.
There have been many important moments in my career.
– Perhaps the most important thing has been life and moments with friends. Competitions and all the little fun moments. They have been so great, that’s why life in this group has been the most important of all. Life in a skiing family has been incredible, Manificat described.