March 21, 2024. Eetu Nousiainen climbs the tower of Planica’s iconic flying hill for the start of the last weekend of the ski jumping World Cup season. He lands his training jump safely, but after a moment of sliding, the weak descent slope catches Nousiainen’s ski. Nousiainen falls, and in a rush, the anterior cruciate ligament of his left knee tears and the coil splits.
April 15 orthopedic guru Urho Väätäinen operated on Nousiainen’s knee. The 27-year-old jumper has a radically different summer ahead of him.
Cut to the present. Nousiainen answers the phone at home in Kuopio, where he has just returned from his vacation in Thailand.
– Under normal circumstances, there would have been no possibility to go on a trip at this time of year, but I was able to use my vacation postponed due to surgery in the spring, says Nousiainen.
However, Nousiainen has not rested on his laurels for half a year. Väätäinen has checked the condition of the knee two and five months after the operation. According to research, the rehabilitation has progressed better than planned.
– The original estimate was that I would be able to jump nine months after the surgery, i.e. after the turn of the year. Now it looks like I’ll be able to jump already in mid-December, Nousiainen says.
The weight came off quickly
Nousiainen is not alone with his injury. An Italian suffers from the same injury Giovanni Bresadolawhich crashed on the same Planica weekend, two days after Nousiai. A few days from Bresadola Mico Ahonen fell in Lahti and joined the company of his aforementioned companions.
– Sometimes we have messaged each other and asked for information. At the beginning, it was exciting how the recovery could progress so much in a week. Each one had, as it were, stages, the fulfillment of which was compared. For example, getting your knee straight, being able to walk up the stairs without support, being able to walk without canes or squat, says Nousiainen.
Nousiainen trained by himself for three months. The initial phase went in full rest, the effects of which made the jumper startled on the scales.
– The best thing about the time after the surgery has been that I got rid of the extra muscles from my body. It has been difficult for me to drop the weight below a certain point. After the surgery, I noticed that wait a minute, now we’ve already gone down a kilometer.
Nousiainen normally weighs 68 kilos during the competition season, and last season the weight dropped to 67 kilos at its lowest. In the summer, the scale showed 62 kilos.
– I have had some muscle in my hands, but when I was lying on the couch, the extra muscles went away. Now the weight is 64. I try to train so that the muscle does not come back.
Sports expert, sports legend Janne Ahonen according to that, a drop of one kilogram gives a jumper a good two meters on Suurmäki.
Mental relief
Nousiainen describes the past summer as successful by all measures. The biggest relief has been on the mental side.
– Once upon a time there was a chance that there was more to life than ski jumping in a day. I was able to schedule goings and comings exactly as I wanted.
– I don’t go to train at eight in the morning except out of necessity, Nousiainen grumbles.
While the development has been faster than hoped, Nousiainen admits that he has done exercises for which he had not yet received a doctor’s permission.
– At the last checkup, the doctor gave me permission to start doing sports and small jumps. I replied that I have already done a month of technique training, including full effort exercises.
However, Mäkeen Nousiain is in no hurry. He emphasizes that everything will be done under the conditions of the upcoming Winter Olympics in February 2026.
There is still enough distance to compete with the race number on the chest. The blow to the knee during the descents of jumps performed as dry exercises is the moment when the injury reminds us of the unfinished business.
– I have done everything that has not happened. If it’s even going to hurt, you have to back off a bit. Pain is irrelevant.
– Next, we need to get more out of the speed aspect. When the whole summer has been done with boring and static work, the elasticity has suffered.
There are also people in the close circle who remind us not to rush the return.
– Happonen Janne keep your feet on the ground, Nousiainen says and refers to the former top jumper from Kuopio who has undergone several knee surgeries.
Monkey off your shoulders
Nousiainen names her goal to return to the Games after the turn of the year. If the rehabilitation continues in the current tailwind, he will name jumping in the World Championships as his main goal for the winter. They start in Trondheim, Norway on February 26.
– Of course I would like to get to the World Championships and be in the best possible shape there. Many things will become clear when I get to the hill. It would also be nice to get to Planica, so that the monkeys don’t get stuck on the shoulders, says Nousiainen.