Heidi Kuuttinen got an invitation to the Biathlon World Cup completely out of the blue – then the dream of a debut crashed at Stockholm airport

Heidi Kuuttinen had to compete on Thursday for the first time in the Biathlon World Cup individual competition. However, the 24-year-old’s dream crashed due to a delayed flight and a prolonged weapons inspection.

Kuuttis, who lives and trains in Vuokatti, was asked to take part in the race suffering from health problems Mari Eder’s replaced only yesterday. The invitation came as a surprise to Kuuttinen, who competed once in the World Cup relay, in the 2019–2020 season.

– I only had time to wash the dishes and pack. Then it was time to go, Kuuttinen told Sporten.

Unfortunately, there was no time left for the transfer, we had to get to Östersund quickly from Kainuu. Kuuttinnen already thought on Wednesday that making it to Thursday’s race is the biggest challenge of the fast call.

Kuuttinen moved to Helsinki on Wednesday and boarded the flight on Thursday. However, Kuuttinen’s flight from Helsinki to Stockholm was delayed and the weapons inspection at Arlanda airport took so long that Kuuttinen did not make it to the race.

– It’s sad, but there wasn’t much that could be done in the situation, Kuuttinen said.

On Saturday, Kuuttinen has another chance to compete in the World Cup, when it’s the 4×6 kilometer relay.

Kuuttinen’s invitation to Östersund came as a surprise, as he joked to Sporten that he hasn’t accomplished anything this season. He said that the season has been difficult for many reasons. In the fall, he underwent surgery for an inguinal hernia, among other things.

– It’s great to see that I’m still on the national team’s leaderboard, Kuuttinen threw.

Kuuttinen has finished second in biathlon, the highest competition series in the IBU Cup this season, at best 36th.

Even though it was sad to miss the individual competition, Kuuttinen regretted that he was invited there especially to assemble the relay team.

The Finns are on the decline, the Italians are on the move

Italy took a double victory in the women’s 15 km race. Dorothea Wierer finished the race without penalty rounds, as did the runner-up Lisa Vitozzi. Vitozzi lost to Wierer by 25.5 seconds.

From Finns Suvi Minkkinen was 53, Erika Jänkä 56th and Nastassia Kinnunen 79th

– There was nothing to contribute to today’s race, when there was a pretty empty girl. I went to the race in a good mood, but it was not motivating to immediately shoot two penalties from the first place. They were all my own mistakes and I was able to accumulate well in the final shooting competition. There are a lot of competitions ahead, but hopefully a bad result does not predict a disease, Minkkinen said thoughtfully in the Ampumaihitoliito’s press release.

Norwegian Caroline Knotten instead cleared the shooting positions cleanly, but suffered a nosebleed in the middle of the race. At the end of the way, the Norwegian fell and lost a minute to the winner Wierer on the last ski lap.

– It was nice to shoot well. Otherwise it didn’t work. My nose was bleeding from the start, I just had to snort, Knotten said according to NRK (you switch to another service).

Knotten said that he is not worried about the bleeding, but that it is common for him. According to him, there used to be nosebleeds in, for example, Nove Mesto, where the air was also very dry.

Bö won the world cup, even though he was not on the line

Germany won the men’s 20 km normal distance Benedikt Doll, who was the only one to complete the race without missing shots. Italy took second place Giacomel Tommaso, who shot one penalty and finished one minute and nine seconds behind Doll. The podium was the Italian’s first in the World Cup. The third was from Norway Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen.

From Finns Tuomas Harjula was the 51st, Olli Hiidensalo 57’s, Otto Invenius 58th, Jonni Mukkala 74’s and Joni Mustonen 75th

Superstar Johannes Thingnes Bö already ensured the overall victory of the men’s world cup.

The matter was confirmed when the second in points Sturla Holm Lägreid couldn’t participate in the Östersund race today. Bö himself also had to miss the race due to corona infection.