Comment: Krista Pärmäkoski’s expression said it all – everyone is the happiest on the Finnish side in Lahti | Sport

The pair sprint of traditional skiing has been a profitable medal sport for Finland during its existence. In the opening of Salpauselkä, Finland was helped not only by tradition, but also by lucky women, writes Pekka Holopainen.

Who still remembers Kalle Parantainen? He is the skier who stubbornly held his own lane in the Finnish Cup relay last weekend, national hero Iivo Niskanen at the expense of what has been discussed in several instances throughout the week.

The events of Friday, or the opening day, at the World Cup in Lahti proved once again that even in top sports, yesterday’s buzz is as fresh as yesterday’s newspaper in the media world.

Two prize places for the Finnish sprint relay teams was certainly not an astronomical idea, but its realization was anything but probable. The last time a traditional pair sprint was skied in the World Cup was precisely in Lahti more than five years ago; then Iivo Niskanen skied Cross mat Hakolan with third.

The women had last attended the ball more than 10 years ago in January 2014, when Aino-Kaisa Saarinen and already deceased Mona-Liisa Nousiainen finished second in Nove Mesto.

This Finnish parade has not competed in the World Cup very often. Krista Pärmäkoski has skied pair sprints with six different skiers in value competitions. It is very descriptive that Johanna Matintalo with whom he got away for the first time on the parade trip in Finland.

In 2005, the pair sprint entered the competition program and has brought Finland nine World Cup or Olympic medals.

Daily profit margin

The expressions of Pärmäkoski, who was keen to get in good shape at the end of a difficult season, said that the second place meant at least as much to the woman who probably packed 12 medals in her career this spring as Kuopio’s Suomen Cup Iivo Niskanes.

Not more than the Swedish first team’s winning margin of 25 seconds – a period corresponding to about a day on this trip – but the lucky girls are now dancing excitedly to the rhythm of Pärmäkoski and Matintalo. The crashes of the German and Swedish second teams cost one a lot and the other everything; in addition, one change from Norway’s second team went completely wrong, so to speak.

That’s not it, everything is taken.

In the men’s race, Iivo Niskanen’s performance was more interesting than the final result before the 20 kilometer (p) intermediate start on Saturday, which will define the entire season.

Niskanen, who basked in other headlines at the beginning of the week, didn’t go on a magical flight in Lahti, but the performance was completely amazing, especially as the competition got older. As the finals wore on, something more interesting than Niskanen’s mood became a completely different matter: would the long-range fighter, who had developed nicely for this season, get Lauri Vuorinen finally his first podium in the World Cup?

The Gaul hummed

This time the lucky lady’s name was Jules Chappaz. The Frenchman, who took the surprise World Cup bronze medal in the 2023 Sprint in Planica, fell on his own main leg, so to speak, from his straight legs and without help on the back straight of the stadium. Thanks to this, and only this, Vuorinen’s head opened up Richard Jouven with to examine the goal camera images, from which VAR this time found a Finnish body part in front of the goal line in the third place of the competition.

Ivo and Kerttu Niskanen are the only pair of siblings who have won an individual competition on the same day in the FIS sports of the World Cup or Honors. All of a sudden, I can’t think of another “official” couple who would have taken the prize ranking on the same day, like Vuorinen and Matintalo on Friday.