The former executive director of the Finnish Ski Association participated in the World Cup in Salpausselka as a Talko.
Although the 101-year-old Salpausselkä Games have seen almost everything from heaven to earth, every year something new is added to the classic event.
This year, as a novelty, a tent was pitched in the middle of Lahti’s ski stadium, where the fluoride test introduced by the International Ski Federation FIS for this season was performed. A group of eight people measured the fluoride content of the skis of cross-country skiers and combined athletes for three competition days, and not a single trace of fluoride accumulated.
FIS’s Nordic skiing bosses came to monitor the test and were surprised to find a familiar figure among the testers, the former executive director of the Finnish Ski Federation Mika Kulmalan.
– Yes, there was a question from the leaders of FIS about what you are doing here. I threw back with a joke that you have to start selling yourself for some task with the twins in mind, Kulmala refers to the 2029 World Ski Championships, for which Lahti was the only city to submit an application by the deadline.
– At the turn of the year, people with language skills who know how to handle skis were recruited for fluoride control. The topic of fluoride has interested me from the beginning, so I called immediately after seeing the announcement.
Equipment worth 30,000 euros
The rule prohibiting thickened fluoride creams was only introduced for this season after the ban had been postponed three times a year. The reason was deficiencies in the reliability of the test.
The fluoride ban made huge headlines in skiing countries in the very first possible competition, when a Norwegian alpine skier Ragnhild Mowinckel was rejected in the giant slalom that opened the ski world cups due to too high fluoride concentrations. Since then, no profile names have been caught.
However, in alpine skiing, carts were not even possible, because according to Urheilu’s information, after Mowinckel’s case, competitors’ skis were not tested at all in several World Cups. Although there have been no cases of fluoridation, not everyone has swallowed the talk about the reliability and level of testing.
– I was also cynical at first about how the system works, but I was positively surprised. The work went very smoothly, says Kulmala.
Kulmala praises the test device, the unit price of which is around 30,000 euros.
– There were two of us per device: one measured, and the other recorded the data on the computer. Sometimes we changed jobs so that both systems became familiar. In the measurement, all you had to do was place the ski on the rails and move the measuring device so that it could measure the fluoride concentration in two places in the ski area.
– Careful handling of the skis was essential, as the sliding and holding areas should not be touched.
Not the first talk gig
Even though the international ski bums were surprised to see Kulmala at work, the native of Järvenpäälä, born in 1966, has had time to travel around in several positions in dozens of sporting events.
Kulmala has worked, among other things, as an announcer at the Lahti World Cup, the Biathlon World Cup in Kontiolahti, as well as in orienteering’s Jukola messages. Similar sound works are scheduled for April 7, when the long-distance skiing championships are held in Rovaniemi.
“Workshops are the best jobs,” Kulmala recommends.
In overalls work, you can also often see and feel small details of the TV filming.
– I meant to post on social media during the sprint that (Kristine Stavås) At the ski stadion the winner’s ski is below today. He skied on JHK skis, Kulmala said and gestured Johannes Hösflot from Kläbo to the pair that was on loan.