Elian Lehto will compete this weekend in the World Cup in the super giant slalom in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Live broadcast on Saturday on TV2 and Areena at 12:40. You can find everything about the Urheilustudio weekend here.
Finland’s fresh alpine skiing sensation Elian Lehton the performances have attracted international attention. Last weekend, Lehto reached almost 10 sacks twice in Kitzbühel’s legendary plunge. The grove was twice the eleventh. The international skiing federation FIS put him in the spotlight at the beginning of the week on its social media accounts as “warrior of the week.”
Even before the start of the season, glowing stories about Lehdo were written in the Swiss media.
The speed skater from Rovaniemi has now trained for the second season with the Swiss national team.
On Friday, Urheilu caught up with the president of the Swiss Skiing Association by Urs Lehmann.
Lehmann remembers well how it all started. His good friend Martti Uusitalo contacted. Both belong to the board of the international skiing federation FIS.
– Martti called me and told me that we have a problem in Finland. We have a really good young guy, but we don’t have the infrastructure. We don’t have the money to put a team around him. Then the discussions started, Lehmann recalls now.
After the negotiations progressed to the finish line, Lehmann called the head coach of the Swiss men’s team To Thomas Stauffer.
– I said that I want Elian in his team. Thomas said he is very skilled and I have to be careful because one day he can beat our guy. I said that it is a good thing for the whole sport, Lehmann describes.
Knockout for Finnish threats
In Finland, there has already been time to speculate that Lehto’s handsome development could be a threat to the continuation of cooperation with Switzerland. Big boss Lehmann, however, does not see the Finnish Comet as a threat in any way.
– Elian is a valuable athlete for us. We learn from him and he has learned a lot from us, says Lehmann.
Lehto and Finland are not the only ones Switzerland cooperates with. The chairman of the Swiss federation wants to emphasize that behind this kind of cooperation is the will to make alpine skiing and in this case skydiving an even bigger sport.
– After all, we are all one family. The alpine skiing family has to grow. We need to get Finland into the skydiving family, Lehmann emphasizes.
– I would love to see Elian take a medal, even a gold medal or a World Cup victory. I would be among the first to congratulate. I would tell the guys in Switzerland to look at Elian and work harder to get back to his future, says Lehmann.
Lehto trains with the Swiss national team at the so-called place of purchase. Including all expenses, it costs the Finnish sports organization Ski Sport Finland and the athlete himself around 150,000 – 200,000 euros.
The chairman of the Swiss federation does not want to tell the exact price for Lehto’s national team place, but says that Switzerland’s biggest alpine skiing stars, such as the number one in the overall world cup, by Marco Odermatti that the costs are approximately 200,000 euros annually.
– We don’t want to make money with this. We want to make the sport bigger, but this comes at a cost to us, Lehmann describes the purchase point policy.
Potential to be even the best in the world
Lehmann is also uploading from behind the office desk from St. Moritz wild talk about Lehto’s potential. And in that sense, it’s not just anyone giving comments remotely.
Urs Lehmann is also the world champion of the skydiving from 1993. In his opinion, Lehto can reach the podium sooner or later in the skydiving, either in the prestigious competitions or in the World Cup. It would be unprecedented in Finland, where there are hardly any conditions to practice skydiving.
He emphasizes that Lehto has all the conditions to rise to the top and praises the Finn’s skills. Especially how wonderfully Lehto glides. The mental qualities are also in Finnish condition. A young person from Rovaniemi is not afraid to go down slopes at a speed of 130–140 kilometers per hour, where health risks are always present.
The environment is now favorable, as Switzerland is one of the world’s best speed sports countries in alpine skiing.
In addition, Lehmann points out that Lehto has fully adapted to the Swiss team. He sees that he has found Swiss youths of the same age Alexis Monney and Franjo Von Allmen with a good group. They have tightened each other up.
Now, according to Lehmann, it’s all about gaining experience so that Lehto can rise to the world’s sharpest top.
He is even quite convinced that Lehto will be seen on the podium in the future.
– Elian is still the youngest competitor. He turns 24 this year. On average, the peaks of skydiving are 30 years old or a little older. So Elian still has time. Experience is important in skydiving. It helps to get to the top, Lehmann estimates.
– Elian is still about young and still close to the top ten in Kitzbühel. It’s clear that he has the potential to be one of the world’s best in diving. I would be happy if Finland got a medal in the skydiving competition or a place on the podium in the World Cup.