Joni Mäki was second in the Falun World Cup sprint. The last time a Finnish man had been seen in a World Cup sprint on a podium seven years ago.
Joni Mäki returned the Finnish men to the podium in the World Cup sprints after a seven – year hiatus when he was second in the Falun World Cup.
For a long time, Mäki was fourth in the finals of the traditional skiing competition, but rose to the podium with his hard work at the end. Behind the rest of the roar of France Lucas ChanavatNorway Sivert WigItalian Federico Pellegrino and Norway Lars Agnar Hjelmeset. The victory went to France Richard Jouve.
Several of the top names were missing from the World Cup closing weekend sprint. A number of Norwegian sprinters were diagnosed with corona infections, in addition to which the Russians have been excluded from international skiing competitions due to the war that began in Ukraine. Of the Sprintticup’s top twenty, only six were in the starting lineup.
Of course, Mäki defeated merchant sprinters in the final, such as Chanavat and double Olympic silver medalist Pellegrino.
– That was a really tough trick from Jon. If you think about the recent performances, this was to be expected. In any case, Joni would have fought for the podium placements, despite the fact that all the toughest people would have been present, Sports Expert Kalle Lassila says.
Mäki was already rolling to victory in the Falun qualifier. Even in the first rounds, Mäki was convincing and even managed to slow down at the end. In the semi-finals, however, at the time of the decision, he chose the outer track, which did not slip. It was going to drop the Finn out of the final, as he was left fourth. However, Mäki made it to the finals via a time comparison as the second semi-final went at a slower pace.
– It showed how small success is, after all. We’ve seen Jon has the capacity to ski to the podium. The semi-final cannot be said to have been tactically bad. He just got into a bad position, Lassila estimated.
Lassila glows the story of Joni Mäki in recent years. Mäki rose to the consciousness of a large nation when he grabbed Salpausselä in the World Cup message Alexander Bolshunov scalp in a tight struggle for second place. In addition, Mäki has a pair of World Championship silver, Olympic silver and one World Cup podium finish. Now, as a new merit, there is also a podium place in the personal competition in the World Cup.
– It’s been cool to see Joni’s development. Already years ago, Jon has had a tough pace for one lap. He has been able to win qualifiers. He didn’t have that good yet. In it, he has developed tremendously, especially for this season, Lassila states.
Lassila emphasizes that it is with the ability to church that good investments and podium investments are made in the batch phase.
– Although the qualifier can be won and has the endurance and speed capacity, such a sprinter does not do a lot during the race day. One round speed is the first requirement. When fighting for podium finishes, church ability must rise to a really tough level. Now that ability exists for Jon, Lassila estimates.
What makes Joni Mäki an athlete so that he was now able to break the seven-year torture of Finnish men in the Sprint World Cup? The Finnish man was last on the podium in the World Cup sprint in January 2015, when Toni Ketelä was third in Otepää.
– Joni has been a Finnish male skier for a long time, combining all the important sprinting features. The durability properties are good enough. In addition, she is elastic and elastic. The technology is also good. It is the lifeblood of success in sprinting. This is combined with the most important feature of endurance species, ie endurance, Lassila bundles.
The only Finnish man to win the World Cup sprint will be in December 1997. At that time Ari Palolahti was number one in Milan. Could Hill be the winner of the Sprint World Cup? One big stump in it is the Norwegian superstar Johannes Hösflot Kläbo. Kläbo, who has already secured the victory in the overall cup and is still on the sidelines after a corona infection in Falun, has always been in control of the sprint races in recent years.
– Kläbo, when in the best condition, is practically untouched. Winning for Joni, like everyone else, demands that Kläbo is not in his best steel. I don’t think it will change next season either, Lassila says.
There were no final places for Finnish women in Friday’s sprints in Falun. Johanna Matintalo was the seventh and Kerttu Niskanen eighth. However, all six Finnish women scored.
– Very good overall performance in spring snow. Sees that the basic level of athletes is very high. Of course, the highlights were missing. Several athletes would have had a chance to reach the final if successful, Lassila sums up.