United States! Aino-Kaisa Saarinen was passed out from going to the Cross Country World Cup in Minneapolis over the weekend. The cross-country skiing world cup returned to the United States after a 23-year hiatus.
The home crowd also went wild for a really big surprise, when on Sunday the freestyle skiing ten kilometer race was won by the United States Gus Schumacher. In women Jessie Diggins was third.
Saarinen wasn’t just fired up by Schumacher’s victory at the weekend.
– The contribution of the entire US team, women, men, maintenance, venue and public. Everything hit the button there! Saarinen was amazed.
– This was really good Yankee entertainment. The course was considered quite easy, but when you looked at the sprint and the normal distance of the freestyle, it was really hard to ski there. The Yankee audience got to see what it’s like to ski at top speed.
The North American tour was talked about in a very negative tone beforehand. Why go to the other side of the globe in the middle of the season to compete, when the Ski Federations of many countries are suffering from financial problems?
According to Aino-Kaisa Saarinen, the competitions seen now in Canmore, Canada, and Minneapolis, USA, left a really good taste.
– Especially in the United States, you could see how Americans know how to make sports entertainment. It was a good thing that the competition could be held there, Saarinen expressed.
Surprise?
Kerttu Niskanen the strong mood surprised Aino-Kaisa Saarinen.
On Tuesday in Canmore, Niskanen was in the sprint final for the second time in his career. 11 years had passed since the last time. Even in Minneapolis, Niskanen forced himself into the heat stage with his weaker freestyle skiing.
On Sunday, Niskanen was no less than the sixth intermediate skier in ten freestyle skis. Sixth place is a rare treat for Niskanen in a similar competition format in freestyle skiing.
Niskanen was fifth in Davos 2017 and sixth in Davos 2019. In Davos 2013, Niskanen was fifth when skiing the free intermediate start race with a length of 15 kilometers.
That quote from Davos in 2017 is also Niskanen’s previous time when he has been higher in the results in the freestyle normal competition he finished last, if you don’t take into account the final ascent of Alpe Cermis in the Tour de Skill.
– I would not have believed something like this. On Sunday there were only sprinters Further on the results list. Kerttu skied really well. When such a fast trip goes so well on free skiing, we can expect strong results from Kertu for the rest of the season, Saarinen beamed.
A flop?
Norwegian women have been weak in cross-country skiing throughout the season. Aino-Kaisa Saarinen was ready to lift the female skiers even last weekend’s flop.
Now, however, the women of Norway also had a poor performance in biathlon.
At the World Championships, there was quite a surprise when the Norwegian women were left without a medal. The last time this happened was in 2017.
Norway’s number one star Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold however, left the World Cup overall as the number one name. In the end, his only medal was the bronze medal in the mixed doubles relay. The results of the individual races were harsh: 25th in the sprint, 34th in the pursuit and 27th in the normal distance.
Tandrevold must be happy that World Cup points are no longer awarded at the World Cup. The rule was waived last season.
– It would have been quite a long way back for him. Tandrevold seems to have quite a lot of problems with shooting. Now he has a week and a half until the triple penalties for vertical shooting become zero, Urheilu’s expert Ville Kotikumpu assessed and referred to the ongoing World Cup at Holmenkollen in Norway.
What the hell?
Those who will be working in the sports studio this week will be released Petra Olli and Kaisa Mäkäärinen. They now have a week to learn circus skills. Juggling has been chosen as the challenge.
They are taught by a circus artist and teacher Hannu Pham.
– I sent a message to ‘s producers a moment ago that if I have to sing or rap, I will take the final account in a live broadcast, Mäkäräinen already had time to get scared in advance i do
Mämäräinen wasn’t very confident about his own chances when he was fresh.
– It rains in Petra laar 100–0. I have to take the attitude of coming into the notebook. It’s the only chance to find out, Mäkäräinen described.
Petra Olli was on different lines from the pre-favorite position.
– I have no idea about juggling, Olli described.
The public gets to influence the progress of each Task and the selection of the winner. Follow the progress of Mäkäräinen and Olli’s juggling challenge in more detail here!
What next?
The cross-country skiing season continues next weekend in Kuopio at the Finnish Cup. At that time, at the starting line, it seems that the one who took a break from the competition again Iivo Niskanen. After that, one of the Finnish highlights of the season is coming up, the World Cup in Salpauselä.
First of all, Saarinen wishes for health in the coming weeks. Anne Kyllönen revealed on Saturday on Viaplay that the Finnish team already had a cold on the Canadian side during the North American tour.
Saarinen also has great expectations of success for the Salpauselä Games, especially for Kerttu Niska.
“Salppuri Saturday†is one of Niskanen’s dream trips, a 20-kilometer traditional skiing intermediate departure. A week ago in Canmore, Niskanen was second on the way, when it was skied as a joint start. At that time, Niskanen shot Viaplay that he would have won in Canmore if there had been an intermediate start race.
– I believe that Kerttu will win in Salpausellä. He is now in such a convincing and delicate condition. Only getting sick can take the win away from him, Saarinen says.