Jonna Sundling muted, Johannes Hösflot Kläbo unusually hard – Finnish skiers were very disappointed with Lahti’s sprint day

Swedish Jonna Sundling was mute in the women’s sprint at the Salpausselä Championships in Lahti. Sundling, 27, was by far the fastest in the qualifiers, more than six seconds behind the US Jessie Diggins.

The final also became Sundling’s show. Even if the final church was the strongest, Sundling escaped from the others early in the final.

– Totally muted. Already in the qualifiers, this woman showed that she is now in her own series in this race. If you think that he is the strongest, however, the fastest and at the same time endurance and the pace of travel are completely in a class of their own. Unbelievable, glowed Sports expert Kalle Lassila.

Sweden took a triple victory when Emma Ribom was another and House Dahlqvist third.

At the Beijing Olympics, Sundling won the freestyle sprint, and the freestyle was now also competed in the Lahti World Cup. Sundling brought three medals from Beijing when she was in silver in the double sprint with Dahlqvist and Sweden was third in the women’s post.

Below you can see the end of the women’s sprint final. The story continues after the video.

Men’s finals in Norway Johannes Hösflot Kläbo again left the solutions to the finish line, but this time the victory did not come off easily. French Lucas Chavanat’n the final draw was enough, almost.

Kläbo won the race based on the paint camera’s picture, according to the statistics service, the difference to the Frenchman is 0.04 seconds. The third was Norway Sindre Björnestad Skar.

You can see the solution to the exciting sprint finals for men in the video in the main picture of the story.

A total of six Finns made their way from the qualifiers to the wilderness stage. The fastest Finn in the women’s qualifiers, 10th, was Jasmi Joensuu. Krista Pärmäkoski was 15th, Katri Lylynperä 22nd and for the second time in his career won World Cup points Anni Alakoski 28: s.

In the men’s qualifying, the fastest Finn, 13th place, was Lauri Vuorinen. Joni Mäki got excited until the end of the sequel. In the end, Mäki was 30th, the last to make it to the qualifiers. Lauri Mannila was the first to be out of the batch after losing 0.18 seconds to Mäki.

The first installment phase was a big disappointment in Finnish. None of the six Finns reached the semi-finals, ie the top 12.

Pärmäkoski, who skied in the third set, was the sixth, ie the last. He was on his way to a small collision, at least in Germany Katharina Hennigin and Italian Greta Laurentin with.

– It was annoying when I heard that my lot was going on in time. The feeling was good and I tried, but the space ran out. The German Hennig also ruined his own race in it. Both of them gained momentum, Pärmäkoski commented on one of them, where there was enough extra contact.

Pärmäkoski said that the mood is good considering Sunday, a 10-kilometer traditional race. He believed the fast-paced sprint, as well as Thursday’s Olympic Stadium sprint, opened up seats after a heavy trip to Beijing.

– The feeling was good, it’s important, tomorrow is the more important trip for me.

– But it would have been nice to ski yet, just a great encouragement here. When my own name was said in the presentation, there was a staggering feeling as the audience moaned. This is what we need, Pärmäkoski glowed.

Jasmi Joensuu took the top spot in the USA in the fourth set Rosie Brennan until it crashed into a gentle fall. Therefore, a huge disappointment for Joensuu again. At the Beijing Olympics, the semi-finals were a dream come true.

– I do not really know. I skated well, I was second in that fall, as I wanted to be. I guess I hit Brennan’s ski a bit and then I fell for it, I don’t know, disappointed Joensuu wondered in the interview.

– Was the best free qualifier of my life. I’m in the best shape of my life, but no luck to this girl right now. After all, I caused it, you have to stay upright in this species, Joensuu added.

Joni Mäki, who skied in the men’s second stage, seemed weak for a long time. In the end, however, he presented a soaring, brazen Kirin. It lifted the man from last place to third in the lot, but not to the next place.

– Time in line with this season. The qualifiers have been weak, but the lot is running. Unfortunately, I wasn’t in a better position on the last hill. I did everything, and it was ok, Mäki commented after the installment.

– It seems that the condition of the musculature is sharp, but endurance is not at the level it should be in the World Cup. It was seen in that qualifying ski that he could not keep up. It would be wiser to skip tomorrow and focus on Drammen, Mäki announced.

The traditional sprint will be raced in Drammen, Norway on March 3rd.

Lauri Vuorinen fought for the final position in one of the finals, but ended up fifth. The mountain came last in the long distances, but improved his position on the last ascent and descent before the stadium area.

– At the stadium, it was seen that the man had a huge desire to continue from there. On the back, he didn’t have the temperance to gather momentum behind the one going ahead long enough, but left to tread out there quite early. Did not get the best pees benefit, according to ‘s broadcast, expert Kalle Lassila Vuorinen’s performance ended.

– There was quite a lot of touring. There was desire and strength, but no real keys were found in the tactical game, Lassila said.

Head coach of the Finnish women’s national team Ville Oksanen said after the race that the skiers ’tactical choices in the race were poor.

– Probably not quite the best ability to strike physically, but more courage would be needed. That it takes its own place. There were a lot of bad places, it’s annoying, Oksanen said on Sport’s broadcast.

– Those skis didn’t go according to the original tactics. Hardness and courage would be needed. The little things that are important to take in it’s own space are kept in it’s own lane. Today, quite a few times it happened that you started the pace, and then you have to accelerate again, Oksanen criticizes.

Guests at Sports Studio Aino-Kaisa Saarinen and Toni Roponen described the day as disappointing.

– If you think that Sweden took the triple victory for women and Jessie Diggins was fourth, then the pre-favorites were true. But yes, we need to learn to stretch in these and tactically find the right place. This was a bit disappointing, Roponen said.

– We did not expect anything from Pärmäkoski today, but Joensuu and Lylynperä, who are specialists in this trip, were certainly expected to do more, Roponen added.

Saarinen signed that Vuorinen gave equalization to others when he went to seek positions from outside. There was too much skiing time compared to the others. Joni Mäki’s final letter was toned, but it wasn’t enough for the semi-finals either.

On Sunday, the traditional intermediate starts will be held in Salpausselä, women 10 kilometers and men 15 kilometers.

Then there are those who missed the sprint, among other things Iivo and Kerttu Niskanen, Perttu Hyvärinen, Anne Kyllönen and Johanna Matintalo.

Toni Roponen says that expectations for traditional competitions do not need to be charged separately. In the women, both Kerttu Niskanen and Krista Pärmäkoski want to win. Iivo Niskanen recently grabbed Olympic gold from that trip.

– I’m looking forward to more podium places tomorrow. I also expect Johanna and others to have the best standings in the Cup this season. Now would be the place to show, Aino-Kaisa Saarinen said.

– It is interesting whether we get other Finns in the top ten. For example, Johanna Matintalo or the enthusiastic Jasmi Joensuu, Toni Roponen reflected.