Joni Mäki, who made his breakthrough in Falun four years ago, finally got a bang on his back – a promising prediction from the head coach

The career’s first World Cup final spot in front of a home crowd in Ruka, an Olympic medal from Beijing and finally second place in the World Cup sprint from Falun. No wonder that Joni Mäki has had enough reason to smile lately.

The second place in the traditional sprint, especially on Friday, warmed up Mäki’s mind, as it was the first World Cup prize in his career. Falun is becoming a significant place for Mäki, because four years ago he was able to compete in the same place. Anssi Pentsisen after becoming ill and 23-year-old Mäki took advantage of the situation immediately.

Mäki made his breakthrough in the qualifiers in 15th place and was 22nd in the final results. A year later, in an interview with Urheilu, Mäki recalled that if he had not made such a result at that time, he would certainly not have been promoted to the national team.

Since then, Mäki has often been very successful in Falun, and even today he was already leading the way in the qualifiers. He made it to the semi-finals easily, but the final place only came out on time.

– I went to cross-country skiing with an open mind, because I have had really bad cross-country skiing here. That I could go on and on would get a bang out of my back. It was thrown out already in that first round, he told Sport and admitted to making small blunders at the end of the semi-finals.

– I chose really bad lines and hurried a little in vain. I thought there was no rush in the finals. I keep my head cold and make the right decisions, yes the other guys are tired of it too, so there will be opportunities.

According to Mäki, the first personal prize place in the World Cup is a point on top of a great season. Admittedly, the season has not been a mere success for him, as after Ruka’s good success he fell ill and the December Games went sideways because of it. When Mäki got back to competitive condition, a lot of the Games were canceled in January, and he was unable to show his impact before the Beijing Olympics.

Häki has had problems with illnesses during the season in the past. What happens when Joni Mäki stays in good shape from the beginning to the end of the season? Head coach Teemu Pasanen believes that this is when the real potential of the Hill will be seen.

– It has been known for a few years that Joni’s potential is enormous. There is enough momentum and in time the number one places have already come, but there have not been enough bangs in the wilderness stages yet. Today he had a really good final and final letter. Now it seems that there is potential for whatever, Pasanen glowed.

Mäki himself, like the top athletes, hopes to have a steady season and a lot of skiing. At the moment, he thinks the results vary from week to week.

– Last winter I was in very good condition, so because of the corona I had to skip the races. I wish there was an intact season in every way so I could compete.

Mäki’s prize position in the World Cup sprint has been a rare treat for Finnish male skiers, as he has been able to do so for the last time. Toni Ketelä In the sprint of Otepää’s traditional skiing in 2015. Ketelä was third at that time.

All in all, the Finnish men have now finished 14 times in the Sprint World Cup prizes. In addition to Mäki and Ketelä, they have reached the top three Martti Jylhä, Sami Jauhojärvi, Matias Strandvall, Keijo Kurttila, Lauri Pyykönen and Ari Palolahti, who is the only Finnish man to win the World Cup sprint competition. This happened in 1997 in Milan.

Joni Mäki said that he would now continue what Toni Ketelä started seven years ago. Admittedly, with one small change.

– It had to be a little better, he grinned.