Harsh talk from Finnish female skiers – maintenance manager admits the problem: “Maintenance did not reach the racetrack” | Sport

Maintenance manager Heikki Tonteri explained the skiing problems of Finnish skiers in the sprints of the World Cup in Falun.

The final climax of the cross-country skiing world cup in Falun continues on Saturday with the 10 kilometer (p) races. The women’s race starts at 12:00 and the men’s at 14:55. Live broadcasts on ‘s channels.

Lauri Vuorinen cheered the sprint with his second place in the sprints of the traditional skiing style of the Skiing World Cup. Even Vuorinen’s success, however, did not hide the fact that Finland’s maintenance had big challenges in the Falun rain.

Finnish maintenance had difficulties already in the Drammen sprint on Tuesday.

Friday’s most disappointed Finnish skier Jasmi Joensuu was in 32nd place in the qualifying round and didn’t make it to the heats at all.

Joensuu did not criticize the maintenance, although he stated that the races in Drammen and Falun went “right in the book”.

Instead, Katri Lylynperä, who came in 49th place in qualifying, and Tiia Olkkonen, who fell and stopped in qualifying, opened up about their skiing woes.

Olkkonen said he fell on the last descent. According to him, the salting made it difficult to go, because sometimes the grip took hold and sometimes the edge didn’t hold.

– There was nothing that could be done, Olkkonen commented to Urheilu and said that he hurt his knee a little.

– Nothing big. Mental problems the most.

According to Olkkonen, the weather was quite challenging, especially when the maintenance couldn’t test the conditions.

Maintenance manager of the Finnish team Heikki Tonteri admitted that Jasmi Joensuu did not get to ski on competitive skis.

– This was probably the situation. If there is not a high enough ski and you have to apply grip to get the ski to hold, then you may not be able to go downhill well enough, Tonteri estimates.

According to Tonter, there were simply not enough high-quality skis for all Finns.

– The importance of the ski’s profile is even more emphasized if you are in extreme conditions: in dry conditions or in such harsh rain, Tonteri described.

Maintenance did not get to test the skis on the race track

Lylynperä was also upset that his equipment was not working. They tried to increase the grip on the skis without success.

– I would hope that maintenance would be given better working opportunities. Maintenance did not make it to the racetrack at all. I gave feedback ten minutes before the start that I couldn’t hold the skis on the race track properly, Lylynperä said.

Then, according to Lylynperä, they tried to increase the grip on the skis without success.

– For example, in Drammen, maintenance did not get to the track at all after qualifying. It’s sad that one part of the team can’t do the work, Lylynperä continued and called for better conditions for maintenance in the future.

Maintenance manager Tonteri confirmed Lylynperä’s statement. Maintenance had nothing to do with the racetracks before the start of the day’s races.

– The biggest challenge was that the maintenance couldn’t get to the racetrack today either. We only got to ski at the test site. But we did the tests in the normal way and tried to find the right products, Tonteri said.

Falun’s skiing continues on Saturday, when men and women compete in 10-kilometer distances in traditional skiing as intermediate starts. Tonteri knows that maintenance challenges will not get any easier.

– The holding base must be dug out. There may be sleet that turns into snow. Saturday is going to be a very interesting day, but it’s also an opportunity, Tonteri predicts.

The final climax of the cross-country skiing world cup in Falun continues on Saturday with the 10 kilometer (p) races. The women’s race starts at 12:00 and the men’s at 14:55. Live broadcasts on TV2, Areena and in the follow-up article on ‘s website.