In downhill skiing, the fastest of the sports, speeds can reach over 140 kilometers per hour and the longest jumps can be up to 70 meters. Even a small mistake in the turn or the descent of the jump can derail the skier dangerously off the track.
Alpine skier Elian Lehto however, don’t be afraid.
– When you’re at the helm, you can push far and quite a bit too far. Then when you’re not in control, it’s scarier.
Skydiving requires not only mental fortitude from the athlete, but also really tough physical performance. According to Lehto, the plunge could be compared to any two-minute performance, where you go all out from start to finish. The race is a tough race in terms of intensity, where the heart rates are close to the maximum.
– It’s really the case that the counter is really in the red all the time, Lehto describes the rigor of the race counter.
At the same time, you have to be able to keep the landing together at extreme speeds and even on a worn track. Strength and skill are needed in a single landing, while basic endurance is needed for an athlete to endure the entire white circus, i.e. a long World Cup tour.
– Everyone understands that the element of danger is present. When you push the limit through the ceiling, you know that you can always go out. It raises heart rates more and more, Lehto analysed.
To a layman, skydiving appears as a scary and even absurd sport. Lehto understands the vision.
– I quickly came up with a hell of a lot of better hobbies where you can’t die. In this job, you basically have to be ready to risk your own health in every race. That’s a harsh word, but that’s how it is.
Lehto is thirsty for winning with the help of a functioning team
However, for Elian Lehto, originally from Rovaniemi, skydiving is not a hobby but a profession. Lehto, who trains with the speed runners of the Swiss alpine team, says that in order to compete in risky sports, you especially need a sense of purpose and a desire to succeed and win. The ability to block unnecessary things from the mind is necessary.
– The starting point is that no matter how crazy the track is, the gang has come to win. Everyone has the same mentality. We don’t go there and see if we dare count. It is completely self-evident to everyone that everyone runs that track and wants to win.
Teamwork works in the coaching circle, and technology and issues related to the tracks are actively discussed with coaches and Swiss racing partners. Communication takes place entirely in the local language, but Lehto already has a fluent command of Swiss-German alpine skiing slang.
The training is world-class. Esteemed head coach Thomas Stauffer was selected as coach of the year in Switzerland in December. Lehto feels that he is an equal member of the team, whose development and success have made the coaches and teammates genuinely happy.
Feelings of fear do not slow down performance
When asked if Lehto is honestly ever scared, the answer comes quickly.
– Not really. Rather, the race is exciting in a certain way. For example, certain translations. Not how it goes in those turns or whether it goes into the wall, but how I get the speed out of it if it’s a really tight or bad turn.
Sports psychologist Riikka Pasanen fear is part of sports. Experiencing fear is completely human, because the function of fear is to protect life.
According to him, controlling fear in risky and dangerous sports, such as skydiving, is a matter of choice.
– The athlete is aware that there are certain risks associated with his sport, but the sport is so valuable and meaningful that he is ready to accept the presence of risks. You can’t get rid of the risks and certain fears that come with them, but the athlete decides to go despite them, Pasanen describes.
However, Elian Lehto admits that in the first downhill World Cup start of his career in December 2021, he was somewhat scared of how he would perform in a new situation.
When the only experience of World Cup diving was on TV, you couldn’t understand how long the jumps really were. Lehto’s debut last year in the iconic Hahnenkamm jump in Kitzbühel was also really exciting.
– In such situations, there are certain feelings of fear, but they are definitely not personally something that you can’t get over on the same day. Can you even call them fears, when on the same day you can attack at full strength and complete the course confidently? Lehto ponders.
According to Pasanen, insecurities and fears related to performance are common in sports.
However, athletes learn to control fear through training and confidence.
– When an athlete has practiced a lot and worked on sports skills, he learns to trust himself. For example, even if the speed goes really fast during the descent, the athlete can keep control of his performance. Or he has learned to trust that he can regain control, even if everything does not go perfectly in the performance, says Pasanen.
In controlling fear, Lehto highlights his courageous attitude in addition to his experience.
– Experience has an effect, but I’ve always had a certain attitude. And sometimes I feel like I could pull even bigger.
Lehto, who also practiced motocross as a junior, has always liked fast sports.
In tumbling, the playbook is simple.
– I guess it’s not like just letting go. No braking.
As for Lehto, the name of the Finnish alpine team “Fearless Finns” is not far-fetched.
You have to be able to put injuries out of your mind
In alpine skiing, where the time differences between the competitors are very small, the state of mind matters a lot. Before the race, Lehto tries to psyche himself into a state where he has the feeling that everything is possible. He has an uncomplicated approach to the calculation itself.
– You can always get down from there somehow. Either on your own feet or by helicopter, the anti-aircraft gun jokes.
When the conversation turns to injuries, which have been a lot this season in the Skydiving World Cup, the dark humor ends briefly and Lehto becomes serious. When the race is stopped due to a serious crash, the counters at the top know exactly what’s going on.
According to sports psychologist Riikka Pasanen, the fear of injury is one of the most common fears in sports.
– Risky sports in particular can be associated with fear of injury or experiencing pain, says Pasanen.
So you could imagine that the bad outings of the competitors would make the punts whistle at least a little.
During the competition, Lehto is able to put the injuries out of his mind, and they do not affect his concentration or performance.
– In the games, I can get the “talk” (self-talk) back on, Lehto justifies.
If, on the other hand, training buddies have been injured in training due to, for example, bad conditions, Lehto plays it safe to avoid injury himself.
– Then I’ll take it easy. Injuring yourself during training is quite pointless. But it doesn’t help to become afraid of injuries.
Lehto’s season culminates in the final of the diving cup on Sunday
This season has been a real breakthrough season for Lehto in the downhill and super-G World Cup. Two 11th places in the Kitzbühel jumps showed that the 23-year-old Finn is a capable contender in tough international competition.
This season, Lehto made Finnish alpine skiing history by becoming the first Finnish skier to reach the final of the Alpine Skiing World Cup, where the top 25 skiers qualify.
In the fall final, which will be contested in Saalbach, Austria on Sunday, March 24, skiers will get a valuable feel for next year’s world championship slope.
Lehto’s goal in the last rush of the season is to take out everything that can be taken. A ranking in the top 15 would bring him more World Cup points and thus improve his starting number for next season.
The main goal for next season is the alpine skiing world championships, where Lehto aims to reach at least the top five, even the podium. In addition, in the World Cup, it would be important to establish a place in the top ten and achieve a few top 5 positions.
– The journey continues from there to the Olympic Games in Milan (2026) little by little. It would be great if you could get precious metal around your neck, Lehto states Tyyne calmly.
The gap to the top of the world is within reach
So what separates Lehto from the sharpest tip in the world? Where could one get a little more speed, so that the Finn could be seen on the podium of the World Cup or prestigious competitions?
– We are talking about individual translations and milliseconds. Must be very adaptable and must not hesitate for a moment. Decisions should be made a little faster and better or with greater confidence.
The speed of decision-making is emphasized when the speed is up to 145 kilometers per hour. In this case, the calculator advances approximately 40 meters in one second.
– When it’s going so hard, you can’t really manage how it’s going. You just have to confidently hit the skis and let go.
Without the fear factor, of course.
Skydiving World Cup final on channels on Sunday 24.3. The broadcast on TV2 and Areena starts at 12:10.