Mari Eder opened the women’s 15 km normal competition with two zero shootings, but fell to three missed shots in the third shooting position.
Emma Hyuppa,
Nina Old house
Three misses in the second berth spoiled it Mari Eder’s chances of success in the opening competition of the season in Kontiolahti. Eder, 35, started the 15-kilometer normal distance race with a good ski pace and two zero shootings, but fell foul in the third shooting.
Before the third shooting, Eder was third in the intermediates, but ended up in 17th place in the final results. The difference to the top was 2.45 minutes.
He only completed one penalty round Nastassia Kinnunen was 15th as the best Finn. He fired one miss in the first layup.
– I am happy, this was a good result and still in the home games. In the spring, I thought a lot about whether to continue my career. When Eric (Kulstad) became the head coach, it was interesting to continue. We’ll see how it goes from now on, because the season is long, Kinnunen said with a smile.
The competition was won by Sweden Hanna Öberg 36 seconds ahead of Norway Ingrid Landmark to Tandrevold. Öberg, who was very fast on the track, fired one shot past. Italian Lisa Vittozzi was third in the race.
After the competition, Mari Eder recounted what happened in the second prone shooting, which brought three quick shots. According to Eder, the problems started when he noticed that the front edge of the carpet had sunk into the hole.
– I realized the hole at the point when I hit my right elbow down, that now I am not in a balanced position. I tried to fix it with a small movement, but I couldn’t. It stuck between my ears to bother me and I was left thinking about it. The sights went too long. I fell out of my routine because of it. The technical execution fell apart, Eder said.
Sports expert Ville Kotikummun according to Eder’s performance was promising. The skiing speed was close to the level of the top women and the vertical shooting, which was the crowning glory of the autumn, was successful in the competition situation.
When the concentration breaks in the middle of shooting, the problems pile up like a snowball.
– If an athlete makes the mistake of thinking during a shooting performance, Is the position bad, it’s a harsh fact that those mistakes will happen then. Mari had one big mistake. The other two huts got to the point where the wind changed and the position was not perfect. With a better position, four would have gone in. If the end result had been one penalty, the result would have been absolutely brilliant. Even with three fines, we are in a good position, Kotikumpu said.
In skiing speed, Eder was the sixth fastest of the whole race. He was happy with his season opener as a whole.
– I’ll take those vertical shots with me with great pleasure. I’ve been focusing on vertical shooting since the end of the training season. It is by no means so certain, and the taste has been going better all the time. The first vertical was almost real biathlon, Eder said and added:
– Yes, there will be more good things left from this. Skiing felt bearable. I’m happy because I feel like I’m in good shape.
Other Finns were far behind. Suvi Minkkinen was the 40th Erika Jänkä 60’s and Venla Lehtonen 73:s.
The Kontiolahti World Cup continues on Thursday with men’s and women’s relays. You can watch the live broadcast on TV2 starting at 11:45.