Planica’s World Cup skiing ended in disappointment for the Finns in the 50 km race, when Iivo Niskanen came in sixth and Cross mat Hakola came in 33rd place. Perttu Hyvärinen and Ville Ahonen interrupted.
Hyvärinen’s suspension in particular confused many bench athletes in Finland. Before his suspension, Hyvärinen stopped several times to greet the fans. For example, Hyvärinen’s actions were wondered at in the Urheilustudio’s game stand chat.
– I prefer not to interrupt. If you interrupt, it’s basically not worth using the style, Hyvärinen commented on his show, Hyvärinen commented to Urheilu.
Hyvärinen had complained during the race that the skis didn’t hold even after changing skis.
The athlete did not publicly criticize his skis anymore in the Urheilu interview. Although Hyvärinen stated in the interview that he thought his sense of humor ran out in the race, but humor had come along the course.
Commenting on the race for Puhe on the spot in Planica Aino-Kaisa Saarinen understood that the skiing problems would have influenced Hyvärinen’s decision.
– I probably wouldn’t have acted like that myself. I would have professionally skied off the piste and taken off the number plate. That kind of thing can give the viewer the feeling that they were really moving at all, Saarinen stated.
Iivo Niskanen’s actions were surprising
Iivo Niskanen went on a parade trip to hunt for the World Cup gold, but the result was the same as two years ago at the World Cup in Oberstdorf, which was marred by skiing problems. Niskanen was once again sixth in traditional skiing at 50 kilometers at the World Championships.
Niskanen severely beat himself up after his main trip to Planica and regretted his arrogant attitude that he didn’t start to tear up the gap earlier in the race.
The Finn tried to run away on the last climb, but was unable to break up the group of skiers who fought for seven medals.
Saarinen would have hoped that Niskanen would have started to attack in the same way as in the relay for the longer uphill section, which was considered his strength.
– I would have hoped that Iivo would have started to attack bravely and even at risk. When skiing for the world championship, I think you can take a little risk. You could have seen if he could make it to the finish line. Now he skied to make sure, and that gave him sixth place, Saarinen stated.
The World Cup skiing revealed four problem areas
In Planica’s World Cup skiing, Finland won only one World Cup silver. However, the only medal was a happy surprise from the men’s relay. The last time Finland won a World Cup medal in the men’s relay was 14 years ago.
According to Aino-Kaisa Saarinen, a 20-year-old Finnish relay anchor Niko Anttola gave positive glimpses into the future and we should be happy about that, but according to Saarinen we should also be a little worried about the situation of Finnish cross-country skiing.
Based on the Games, Saarinen raises four problem points: Skiing in a pack, hard ropes, sprint skiing and free skiing.
– We should fix them, emphasizes Saarinen.
For example, in this season’s World Cup calendar, half of the races are sprint races. On the other hand, there is only one intermediate start race, i.e. a normal distance, in the program of the value races. This year it was held in free skiing.
– Coach Pasanen said that basic training must be done. But now I think that the basic training should focus more on joint start races and sprints. However, they will be skied in the future, says Saarinen.
A rare fate for Finnish women – Saariinen’s different view of the problems of the medal journey
Saarinen is a 15-time medalist in cross-country skiing. Finnish women were left without a single World Cup medal this time. This happened last time in Seefeld in 2019 and the previous time in Val di Fiemme in 2003.
According to Saarinen, the World Championships in Planica will remain a negative for Finnish women. The biggest hopes for success were for Saturday’s 30 km race.
Before the Games, there was talk that Kerttu Niskanen and Krista Pärmäkoski would be medal candidates on the way. However, Pärmäkoski was never in the best shape of the games.
In the case of Kerttu Niskanen, there was talk of a much weaker second pair of skis. Johanna Matintalo also said directly that she lost her taste for competing because of skiing problems.
After changing skis, Niskanen was no longer able to ride with the top women, especially at the time of the final decisions.
Saarinen presents a different view from the mainstream about the reasons for the lack of success of the 30 km.
– However, in my own eyes, the skis were not in a decisive position, Saarinen states.
According to Saarinen, Niskanen and Pärmäkoski were not able to perform at the World Championships in Planica in the same way as earlier this season.
– The assumption was that Kertu should at least have been able to ski for medals. When Therese Johaug has finished, there would have been three medals in different distances. Also on the basis that one could have assumed skiing for medals, Saarinen said.
According to the expert, both the top guard and other national team skiers fell short of their own level in the women’s category.
– Maybe physically we were in good shape, but psychologically we were not fired, Saarinen concluded.