Therese Johaug has offered the ski audience a lot of memories, but there are also Finnish women’s national team skiers. According to Finnish skiers, Johaug leaves a big mark on skiing.
Therese Johaugin The announcement to end his extensive racing career this season came as a small surprise to Finnish national team skiers – but not then.
– He has dominated these “games” for so long that it’s probably time to do something else. As such, it wasn’t a terrible surprise, Jasmi Joensuu told Sport.
– He missed those Olympic medals and this winter they won three gold medals. Somehow a surprise, but somehow not, Kerttu Niskanen compass.
Johanna Matintalo could wait for a decision after the well-run Beijing Olympics, although there was much speculation as to whether Johaug would continue until the 2025 Trondheim World Championships.
– Whether he might have wanted to continue until the World Championships, but he has achieved so much, almost everything, in sports, Matintalo said.
Finnish skiers have many memories of Therese Johaug. Kerttu Niskanen is the same age group as the Norwegian, so the duo met for the first time at the 2007 World Championships for young people.
Also Krista Pärmäkoski has been skiing with Johaug since 2008. However, he will be the first to think of the Oslo World Cup in 2011.
– I would lose him a punch in ten seconds then. It was an annoying loss, but of course I was fifth in that race, Pärmäkoski laughed.
– The following year, in the Val di Fiemme, at the combined start of Tour’s ten perts, I was able to defeat Therese in the final race. I have good memories of him. There may be less of those wins than losses, but there are many fierce battles behind it.
Therese Johaug won her first personal world championship in Oslo in 2011 when she was superior in the 30-kilometer freestyle skiing start. Jasmi Joensuu remembers this race well, as she was there on her first trip abroad.
– We were invited to such a circuit message and we were watching that thirty race and after that we got to race ourselves. There were great moods at Holmenkollen even then, Joensuu, who is preparing for the first 30-kilometer race in Holmenkollen, said.
– Now I can experience it myself here at Holmenkollen, and what’s better, when there are definitely a lot of people cheering for Johaug.
Queen’s crown away
Therese Johaug leaves behind a big gap in Norwegian skiing, as she has been superior on normal trips for the past few years. According to Finnish skiers, Johaug’s significance for the sport is great.
– He has mastered women’s cross-country skiing in recent years, so somehow he has had such a queen’s crown and leaves a big mark on the sport, Niskanen said.
According to Joensuu, Johaug has raised the level of women’s skiing a lot, and she has been a role model for many skiers.
– When I have been able to ski with him in a few races myself, it has been a great experience. Of course, there are a few unfortunate memories in his career, but they must have already been addressed by everyone. However, great memories remain, Joensuu said, referring to Johaug’s doping cart.
In 2016, an anabolic steroid called clostebol was found in a doping sample from Therese Johaug. According to Johaug and the Norwegian Ski Association, the scab was caused by a cream called Trofodermin, which was used to treat the skier’s sun-burned lips. Johaug was banned from competing for 18 months and was unable to participate in the Pyeongchang Olympics, among other things.
According to Matintalo, it was already clear at the Beijing Olympics that the Norwegian women’s ski team was not as strong as it had been before. Nor was the situation alleviated by the fact that Heidi Weng and Anne Kjersti Kalvå had to be left out because of the corona.
– They were a little weak after Therese on many trips. Therese’s absence in the coming seasons will create questions about who will make up for the hunger for success that Norwegians are used to on the women’s side, Matintalo said.
Matintalo and Pärmäkoski think it will be interesting to see how the Norwegian women’s team prepares for the next season, as it is facing a new situation. In the past, skiers have had an athlete on the team who is known to be the number one skier in the world. They may have compared themselves to this, but next summer this benchmark is gone.
Pärmäkoski also believes that the nature of women’s competitions will change. In the past, Johaug has started to move hard from the bang and knocked other competitors off their heels in the first kilometers.
In recent years, Johaug has rarely had to go on tough normal trips and even less often recognize a competitor as better. He has been best challenged by Sweden Frida Karlssonbut Kerttu Niskanen was only 0.4 seconds behind him at the Beijing Olympics.
After a tough medal battle, Johaug stated that he also thinks Niskanen is a gold medalist and said that the minutes he spent in the finish area waiting for a Finn to finish were the most nervous minutes of his career.
– I believe that now more tactical races are played in women, Pärmäkoski estimates.
– Unless there is another superior athlete who follows a similar tactic.
The World Ski Cup continues on Saturday at Holmenkollen in Oslo.
The women’s 30-kilometer traditional group start will be shown live on TV2 and Areena at 10.55. On Sunday, the men will head to the 50-kilometer race, which starts at 12.55 pm (TV2 and Areena).