What will be the role of the national teams in the cross-country world cup in the future? What about the national ski federations? Will the national emblems on the competition uniforms soon become history?
The questions have been raised in cross-country skiing for years. The long-distance Ski Classic series of the sport has been run by private teams since 2011, but the crown jewel of cross-country skiing, the World Cup, has remained a federation-led, i.e. a competition series between countries. At least for now.
Newly appointed as the sports coordinator of the skiing association Jarmo Riski believes, however, that the winds of change will blow in the sport in the next few years.
– Many top athletes have already suggested that the World Cup should be competed in ski stables or with a different concept than now. The prestigious competitions would then be skied as national teams, that is, the country would be represented as it has been until now. My guess is that at some point we will at least try this kind of system, says Riski.
He estimates that a fundamental reform could be implemented in the 2027–2028 season, which does not include value competitions.
Riski currently works as the head coach at a private team called Team Electrofit, which is the first of its kind in Finland.
While the skiers who were left out of the national team previously had to carry out the summer and autumn training period independently, the team established in June offers ten athletes joint training as well as domestic and foreign camps.
The goal of the activity is to raise as many athletes as possible back to the national team for the coming winter.
Even though the stable run by Risk is in virgin land in Finland, the operation already has a long tradition, especially in the western neighbors.
For example by Inge Andersen and Oddvar Brån led by Team Postgiro paved the way for private garages in Norway already in the early 1990s.
– This is not exactly a new thing. In Finland, we are only a long way behind compared to Sweden and Norway, Riski states.
Norwegian skiing researcher, professor Öyvind Sandbakkin according to, currently there are five private stables operating in Norway, which largely serve as incubators for athletes of the national teams.
In March, Team Aker Dählie’s skier Astrid Öyre Slind won the WC bronze in the women’s combined competition.
– I personally see that in the future the coaching activities can be run by professional teams and the official system is responsible for the competition activities (of the World Cup). It may very well be possible on the entire cross-country skiing field, says Riski.
A year of changes
In Finland, the grand opening of private stables coincides with a time when the Ski Federation, which is struggling with its finances, has announced savings measures of hundreds of thousands of euros.
According to Riski, the founding date of the private team scheduled for June is not related to the association’s financial problems, but there is no denying that the timing for the creation of the team would have been favorable.
– The stable complements the already existing system. The question is about the training season. When the competition season starts, the athletes will be in their own clubs and hopefully many will also be involved in national team activities, says Riski.
The door to the men’s A national team opened in early summer, when it shrank from 13 athletes to nine. Of the fallen Verneri Suhonen and Markus Vuorela ended up in Team Electrofit.
The men’s national team also shrunk because its brightest star Iivo Niskanen decided to lift the switch voluntarily. Previously, a similar solution was reached in women Krista Pärmäkoskiwho was left out of the national team in the 2019–2020 season.
In the role of sport coordinator, Riski says he understands the solutions of star athletes.
– It’s just fine in this transition phase. Time will tell how strong the official system (Hihitoliitto) can build the coaching system and funding, or whether we will move more to this kind of private activity, which is commonplace in a really tough professional sport like ice hockey.
According to Riski, there is an order on the field for the reorganization of the national team activities.
– I can’t say yet what it means in practice in the future. However, there is a clear need for change in every direction when you listen to athletes, coaches and the management of the Ski Federation, says Riski.
Unfinished business
One of the hottest topics in Finnish skiing in recent years has been the Suomalainen latu coaching program. It is a sport analysis in which cross-country coaching knowledge has been updated to meet the requirements of modern skiing.
Riski is one of the many coaches who shared their know-how in the analysis. The Finnish cross-country skiers have already been able to enjoy the fruits of it at the Junior World Championships in recent years, where Finnish cross-country skiers have won a number of individual medals.
Instead, the introduction of the coaching program to the grassroots level has remained half way.
– Those at the interface of the national team know what it is about. But I’m not sure if the club coach starting with Hopesompien knows what the whole path is. It was built in Suomalainen ladu.
– One of my main tasks is to inaugurate the field and clarify what the Finnish track is all about. A document alone is not enough to change the practice culture, says Riski.
At the absolute top of the home team, the Niskasten sisters and Pärmäkoski, have been responsible for results for almost ten years now.
From that time Matti Heikkinen is the only Finn outside of the trio who has achieved an adult individual race medal, the 50 km World Championship bronze in Lahti 2017. At that time, Heikkinen was 33 years old.
Of the current duration stars Kerttu Niskanen is 35, Pärmäkoski 32 and Iivo Niskanen 31. Hardly anyone from the trio will continue their career after the 2026 Winter Olympics, which will leave a power vacuum in domestic skiing.
– The head coach Teemu Pasanen has stated many times that a generational change is ahead. The change must take place within 3–4 years, Riski estimates.