Eero Hirvonen is only returning to the World Cup in five weeks in Germany. He took a break from the sport in Tenerife, but even there the TV in the gym showed Kuusamo’s skiing competitions.
Was in a good mood last season Eero Hirvonen28, said on Monday, November 25, on his social media, that he was going to miss the early season races due to his complete loss of hill stamina.
When the Combined World Cup started in Kuusamo on Friday, November 29, Petter Kukkonen the athlete he coached was sitting with his girlfriend in a plane whose landing gear touched the ground in Tenerife. Hirvos’s decision and resignation was radical.
– We left with two days’ notice and stayed seven nights. I ran, cycled and went to the gym. It felt nice to train like in the summer, Hirvonen told Urheilu on Tuesday.
The athlete, who has represented Finland in prestigious competitions since 2017 and achieved 10 prize places in the World Cup, felt that he needed to recharge his batteries far from Finland.
– But when I went to the gym, wasn’t the Kuusamo skiing competition on the TV, Hirvonen teases.
Tourists recognized
He is quite a well-known athlete and person in Finland, and there were plenty of other Finns in Tenerife at the same time. They, on the other hand, are used to seeing Hirvonen at the turn of November-December at completely different latitudes and with other chores.
– I was able to be completely at peace, even though some people recognized me. I did think, what are the people thinking?
In winter sports, it is not unusual to bask in the sun between autumn training and the competition season.
– I’ll go I wince Matt too in the movie on holiday in the south. I did live in Tenerife much more athletically than Matti in that movie, Hirvonen laughs.
No hands crossed
The combined ace, who considers herself to be very fit physically, decided to take a conscious break when, in Rovaniemi before the start of the World Cup, she found that she had completely lost her feel for high-quality hill jumping.
– I didn’t want to cross my arms and go to the Games hoping that things would turn around. I’ve never been able to get a jump fit like that before, things have only gotten worse. Jumping is easy when it works, from any hill. But when the performance becomes too conscious, it loses its relaxation and everything with it. Nothing changes by forcing it.
Correspondingly, the Central Finn, who has lost the optimal jumping feeling many times before in his career, and finished 10th in the overall competition of last season’s World Cup, has discovered that good things can happen in jumping as quickly as bad things.
This week, Hirvonen and Kukkonen are thinking about when to return to the hill. On Tuesday, Hirvonen still hadn’t figured out where in central or southern Finland hill jumping would be successful at all.
– This week I won’t jump, next week very likely. The thought of jumping feels pleasant again.
Return to the World Cup in January
Hirvonen is not in a hurry for competitions, he will not be seen at the Ramsau World Cup at the end of next week.
– It is very likely that I will return to compete in the Schonach World Cup (January 18-19). There is no panic and no rush, I no longer have to compete just for the sake of competing.
Hirvonen believes that he will find a good value race atmosphere when, after the classic race in Schonach, he will go to the world cups in Seefeld and Otepää before the world championships that start in Trondheim on February 25.