Finland’s weak performances in the opening of the World Cup left the head coach speechless – a beautiful gesture from the Norwegian champion to his deceased grandparents

Jarl Magnus Riiber won the World Championship gold, even though the season has been tinged with difficulties. Ilkka Herola and Eero Hirvonen were far from the top.

Planica World Cup skiing on channels 22.2.–5.3.2023. See the program and broadcast information of the World Ski Championships at this link.

Norwegian Jarl Magnus Riiber won the World Championship gold in the combined normal hill competition on Saturday.

Riiber is known to have dominated the sport in recent years, but the current season has been challenging. Riiber has won the combined World Cup in the three previous seasons, but now before the World Cup Riiber had lost his previous four starts.

He had to miss the World Cup in Otepää at the beginning of January because of an intestinal problem. At the turn of the year, Riiber suffered from low appetite and exhaustion due to a parasite.

At the beginning of February, Riiber faced great sadness when his grandparents died on the same day.

On Saturday, we saw a beautiful gesture from Riiber in honor of his grandparents at the finish line after the 10 km skiing section. He raised his index finger towards the sky.

– It was good to send them a small tribute. I use them as my motivation when I get tired. Even when you get to the stadium in front of a big Norwegian crowd, this will be worth everything, Riiber said to NRK. (you switch to another service)

Grandfather guided Riiber in training as well. According to Riiber, he played a big role in why he has become the best combined athlete in the world.

– The goal was to get here and finish where we started. I didn’t want to think about how what happened has affected me. However, I am moved when I think about all the hours with him on the hill and on the track, Riiber described.

Herola and Hirvonen were disappointed

The Finnish team’s 1st units Ilkka Herola and Eero Hirvonen started the skiing section more than two minutes behind Riiber. They weren’t even the best in Finland on the hill section, when Arttu Mäkiaho was able to ski just under ten seconds earlier.

Ilkka Herola was 18th and Eero Hirvonen 19th in the final results. Mäkiaho was 22nd.

– There wasn’t much left to tell posterity. Even thickness. There wasn’t much to do. Half a minute always felt like a long way to go. That’s when we moved towards the goal, Herola said.

Herola admitted that he was disappointed with the day’s race.

– It doesn’t really matter how bad it is if you fall out of the top bracket or the medal fight. The amount of disappointment does not change. All in all, this was a rough day, Herola said.

The medal dreams crumbled already on the hill section, when Herola flew to 90 meters and was 33rd on the hill section.

– It was by far the worst jump that has happened here (in Planica). Skiing would be enough. We skied close to the top for half a minute, even though there was nothing at stake, Herola said.

Hirvonen was 32nd on the hill section, just ahead of Herola. He said bluntly that the result of the day was miserable.

– In the end, nothing was achievable. It’s harder to ski harder when the poles start to go through the snow. This kind of speed can be sustained for however long. When you try to go harder, the rods start to go through even with the biggest possible rod, Hirvonen described.

The head coach Antti Kuisma stated that the race was a big disappointment.

– It went into the notebook. It’s quite clear. We took what was available on the ski section. There aren’t really any words. The expectations were a little different. It doesn’t help to move forward, Kuisma said.

– This is not going to get better by raging or throwing a tantrum. Of course, you have to be critical of the fact that we didn’t succeed today. We are going to solve the situation one thing at a time.