Sprint skiing hurts and happens. According to expert Kalle Lassila, a skier is often required to act on instincts. Ristomatti Hakola, who often fell in competitions, has simple advice for the unlucky.
Jasmi Joensuu has experienced tough sprint races this season. In the Davos World Cup in December he crashed, in January on the Tour de Sk he crashed Anamarija Lampicin with, at the Beijing Olympics he broke his wand, in Salpausselä he fell and in the Drammen city sprint his progression ended in a fall again.
Sports Expert Kalle Lassilan in his opinion, the unfortunate events in Joensuu have been very different. Especially in Drammen, the expert’s accusing finger points Lotta Udnes to Weng.
– Weng left behind, quite foolishly, to make an overtaking inside by touching advertising fences. When the bend still turns inside, there was no presumption that he could get past it, Lassila said, noting that Joensuu had reacted orthodoxly and did not want to let the Norwegian side by side.
– I don’t see that Jasmi could have acted differently.
Jasmi Joensuu himself did not want to comment on today’s race for Sport. Click on the main image to see the crash of Joensuu and Weng.
Simple advice is often overlooked
Sprinting is a sport that always hurts and happens a lot. Tactical skiing during batches is emphasized. Lassila thinks that analyzing them afterwards from the video is very easy, but in a race situation, quick shakes, a game eye and things already learned are required.
– Tactics and reading the game are an important part, but they are still somewhat secondary in that performance, he recalled.
According to Lassila, the athlete must be aggressive in the right places and close the space, but in the right situations he must also be able to give space and minimize risks.
– For the last couple of years, Jasmi has started to ski more aggressively than cross-country skis, taking up more space and keeping it in its own space. Maybe he has taken unnecessary risks at times, Lassila estimates.
Lassila believes that the situation in Joensuu is also affected by the fact that she knows she is in good shape. The Finnish sprinter has just not got the result out. Instead, there have been falls and wounds. It has increased pressure and trying, and at the same time Lassila believes that situation management has decreased.
Lassila emphasizes that the simple advice in a sprint is that the space must be closed before anyone can get there. If someone gets to the room, it’s already too late. In the same breath, he reminds us that giving space is sometimes useful, necessary, and really necessary.
– Maybe Jasm still has room for improvement in the balance of these things, and he will certainly develop as well.
Hakola: It doesn’t help to worry
About the Finnish cross-country team Ristomatti Hakola has often been in the headlines about his crashes and unlucky races. Recently, however, Hakola has remained upright. In Drammen, too, he did well and finished ninth.
Hakola knows very well what moves in the athlete’s mind when the race ends differently than he would have liked. He has clear advice for unlucky skiers:
– Up only and towards the next departure. It doesn’t help to worry. Maybe in sprinting you can think about what you’ve done wrong. After all, there are always some mistakes to be made if you crash on several occasions, he pondered and stated that at least he has usually had situations of his own.
– I have had a lot of enthusiasm in between and in bad places yet, but sprinting is happening so fast now. On the other hand, the bow is less crashed. Even with us, the top three tend to crash less often.
In Lassila’s opinion, it is always worthwhile for a skier to analyze situations over a longer period. What has happened before the fall, for example, what state of mind has been in that situation and what have been the grounds for your own solution.
– Those small detailed solutions are not aware of the competitive situation. There’s more instinct to go there, and it’s more based on the athlete’s doctrine and experience.
More support than a knife
If two or more skiers have crashed with each other, there has often been a fierce exchange of words in the finish area. According to Lassila, who was once on the sprint national team, the dialogue between the athletes who took part in the race is the most important, also between their own team. There will be feedback analytically or emotionally, but everyone should learn from it.
– Of course, in a situation where Finns have collided with each other, there may be more feelings and opinions that are less analytical. When such situations have happened, they are just in the elevator and you think to yourself that what happened here, Lassila laughed.
According to Ristomatti Hakola, the Finnish team does not have a terrible discussion about crashes and crashes, but they do laugh together. According to Hakola, however, the support comes more than a knife.
– At least if you can stand humor, then good humor is always available. That has been enough this season as well. We have a good sense of humor – at least in my opinion, Hakola laughed.
The World Ski Cup continues on Saturday at Holmenkollen in Oslo. The women’s 30-kilometer traditional group start will be shown live on TV2 and Areena at 10.55.
On Sunday, the men will head to the 50-kilometer race, which starts at 12.55 pm (TV2 and Areena).