Top orienteer Janne Salmi talks about his long-term friendship with Pasi Ikonen. Ikonen died on the night between Friday and Saturday.
Timo Uusitalo,
Risto Ukkonen
Former national team orienteer, world champion Pasi Ikonen44, died of long-term illness caused by a brain tumor, exhausted between Friday and Saturday night in a hospice unit.
About 4,300 veteran orienteers from around the world are currently gathered in Turku, and Ikonen was only a couple of kilometers away from the venue in hospice care.
– The World Championships for orienteering veterans started today. Right when the races started, this information came in the middle of the race. Probably a year ago, I thought that Pasi would run in these games. In that sense, it’s a heartbreaking situation, says the 55-year-old Janne Salmiwho is a former top orienteer and, among other things, the 1997 world champion in the fast track.
In addition, Salmi was the head coach of the Finnish national orienteering team in 2005–2010.
“It came as a complete surprise to many”
In honor of Pasi Ikonen, a moment of silence was held in the morning.
– Of course, this affects especially those who are not aware of what Pasi’s situation was. For many, this has come as a complete surprise. Pasi was an athlete known and liked by everyone in his age group.
Janne Salmi says that for him the sad news was even a relief in a certain way. The last time the two met on a run was in February, and even then Salmi didn’t know anything about the unpleasant matter.
– I knew in April what the situation was. The last time I visited Pas was after Midsummer. He couldn’t really talk and was very absent. I can’t even say what he remembered from my visit. Then I thought that at least if I were in the same situation myself, I would hope that I could leave pretty soon, says Salmi.
Did a lot of good for orientation
Salmi and Ikonen competed together for more than 20 years.
– We had similar life values and love for this sport, as well as a certain craziness for constantly trying to improve and succeed. We were soul brothers in that sense, although of course we had our own differences as personalities. We always got along extremely well, recalls Salmi.
The first memories of Pasi Ikose date back to the junior years.
– He already showed as a junior what a sovereign orienteer he was. There were hard performances, among other things, in the youth competition, Jukola’s messages and so on. When Pasi first represented Finland in the adult series in 2000 at the Heinola World Cup in Lahti, we were made roommates. That’s when I got to know him better for the first time. And from then on we were very good friends.
Salmi says that Pasi became known to all orienteers in the Turku region.
– He started a company with a few friends two or three years ago and organized fitness orientations. Even in winter, every week, different indoor orienteering. He was such a driving force in it. Pasi did a lot of good for orienteering until February.