Para-alpine skier Santeri Kiiveri is one of Finland’s biggest wishes for success at the Beijing Paralympics in March. The helmet’s goal is to petrify the ranking of the Pyeongchang Games four years ago.
Para-alpine skier Santeri Kiiveri got to experience what it feels like to be the first to be out of medals at the Paralympics four years ago.
In the vertical class, the descending Helmet rose from its sixth place to sixth place in the slalom at Pyeongchang. The 17-year-old Finn was confident after the race.
– Then in Beijing, a medal in all the sports I participate in.
Four years have passed and the Beijing Paralympics are about to begin.
The 21-year-old Kiiveri still doesn’t compromise on his goals, although 17-year-old Santer’s goal was even more ambitious. The medal still smells in Kiiver’s nose.
– The fourth place was annoying, but it also gave way to the future. Higher rankings are not a free thing in Beijing, but the goal is to improve fourth place, Kiiveri told Sport in early January.
Helmet is one of Finland’s biggest medal hopes in the Beijing Paralympics, and in recent years there has been a loss. The helmet became the first Finn to win the Para-Alpine Skiing World Cup two years ago.
In four years, my career has gone in a more professional direction.
– This is the most important year of my career so far. Then in 2018 in Pyenongchang I was still a rookie. Now I’m more serious.
Fitness peak in Beijing
The helmet season has so far not offered a celebration with a podium.
At the beginning of the year, Lappeenranta did not make it into the top three at the Lillehammer World Championships. The best ranking on the World Cup stage was seventh in slalom.
However, the fitness curve is bullish and promising: Helmet dropped to third place in the World Cup in Åre at the end of January. It was Finland’s last World Cup race before Beijing.
Helmet says he had problems with the equipment early in the season. However, the summer internships went smoothly.
– Usually the counting starts in the spring. I should be fine by Beijing at the latest, Helmet says.
At the time of the interview, Kiiveri had not been able to explore the Paralympic slopes except through videos.
– Looks good. Should suit me well. I look forward to seeing the slopes. All I know about super-G and downhill slopes is that the slope is coming down, Helmet throws.