The path of the Finnish skiers rose quickly in the freestyle sprint in Lillehammer. No Finns were seen in the semi-finals, and Krista Pärmäkoski was 17th as the best Finn. A total of four women and only men were seen in the initial rounds Joni Mäkiwhich ended up in 24th place.
Jasmi Joensuu skied in the first heat, which included Sweden, among others Maja Dahlqvist and the United States Jessie Diggins. In the fast-paced heat, he ended up fifth, just 0.08 seconds away from the last Lucky loser spot and the semi-finals.
Joensuu says that he chose the rock-hard first round because he wanted to go in search of a place in the finals through the so-called top chart.
– The coaches said don’t take first place, but I thought that there are currently the toughest skiers with whom I have to ski in the finals if I go that far. I went to get a big fish today and the semi-final spot was 0.1 seconds away. The second run was more than two seconds slower than my time, Joensuu told Urheilu.
Sports expert Kalle Lassila understand Joensuu’s decision, because the preliminary selections are reflected in the return to the final stage.
For women, the difference between the upper and lower chart is not as great as for men, because after the women’s heats, all five men’s heats are skied before the women’s semifinals. The men have a shorter break between the preliminaries and the semifinals, as only two women’s semifinals are skied between them.
– The batch selection phase, i.e. whether to advance through the top chart or the bottom chart, has become a mental thing and part of the game. The fact that he starts to ski parts through the top chart shows especially to himself, but also to his opponents, that he has come to fight for success in the finals, says Lassila.
Joensuu didn’t regret taking the risk, even though he wondered if he would have made it to the next round with a different batch selection. However, he intends to continue to pursue success through the upper chart.
– We skied hard and left that session with a good feeling. At the end I gave up a bit, but I wasn’t thinking so much about the ranking, but about skiing. I would have been much more disappointed if I had easily skied to the next round and finished last in the semi-final. I was able to fight for a long time and I saw that the top of the world is not too far away, Joensuu said.
Tells about increased self-confidence
In the final, Sweden took a double victory. Skied in the third heat and the latter semi-final Emma Ribom narrowly won Maja Dahlqvist’s, who started the batch phase from the first batch. Norwegian Tiril Udnes Weng was third in the race.
Last weekend, Joensuu, 26, finished fourth in the traditional sprint at Ruka. Even last season, Joensuu was often in the semi-finals even with a basic performance, so according to Lassila, the level has clearly risen.
– Yes, that speaks of increased self-confidence, but there is also a basis for it. He has already skied to the final for the first time this season. The natural continuation is that the next step is the podium and that you ski from the top chart against the toughest from the start.
– It’s incredibly great that he immediately sets out to make decisions that support him getting on the podium there, says Lassila.
The winner of the men’s race Johannes Hösflot Kläbo always chooses the first batch, Lassila reminds. Success hardly depends on that, however, when we are talking about the most superior cross-country skier of the early season.
– If you want to win the competition, you have to be the best in any case. It doesn’t really matter in which section you ski, says Lassila.
Lassila thinks that the coaching management would not have wanted Joensuu to choose the first round because the pace in the qualifying did not promise very well. Joensuu was the 21st fastest in qualifying.
– I think that the coaching management had thought about it through the condition of the day in Joensuu based on the qualification. At least I like the way that a skier sticks to the goal, even if the qualification did not go at his best level.
Is it worth it to go to Joensuu in the future to get that big fish?
– Yes, absolutely, in every race. He seems to be developing in a better direction all the time, says Lassila.