Ruka’s World Cup weekend has been colored by a fire that broke out in the electrical main center of Restaurant Pistie on the night between Tuesday and Wednesday. It also took out electricity from three hotels in the vicinity. One of them was the hotel of the Finnish team.
Krista Pärmäkoski told Urheilu more about the night’s events on Thursday. He has a roommate Jasmi Joensuu.
– Our lights started flickering in the room at night. I didn’t wake up at the first flicker. Jasmi woke up to the second. He said something in it. I woke up to it. Then the lights went out. When I caught up with sleep, the lights started flickering again. We wondered what it was, Pärmäkoski said.
However, Pärmäkoski had calmed down. Then it occurred to him that there was a fire somewhere.
– I was thinking that the sweatpants are on the top shelf and the jacket is in another place. I thought I’d grab the phone in case the fire alarm started going off. Then at night we thought about it, Pärmäkoski described his thoughts.
However, the broken night didn’t stop much on the track. Pärmäkoski had done one day of lighter training and one day in the weight room before the night of the fire. On Wednesday, there was going to be an intensive workout. The coach had to stop it for a good reason.
– They say it looked that good, Pärmäkoski smiled.
Finland’s star skier has been seen in the Ruka World Cup sprint every year since 2008. Now, however, the streak that lasted nine years will be broken. Pärmäkoski misses Ruka’s sprint for the first time in his World Cup career.
The 32-year-old Finnish star skier will only start the competition weekend on Saturday with a traditional skiing ten-kilometer race.
Pärmäkoski is satisfied with his decision on the eve of the sprint competition.
– I told Jaska (Jasmin Kähärä), that I have a good feeling when I dared to make that decision. Let’s save our legs for Saturday, Pärmäkoski describes.
He considers his competition condition to be quite good. Last weekend in Ruka’s Suomen Cup, Pärmäkoski was number one in the traditional top ten. He left Kerttu Niskanen second by a margin of 18.9 seconds.
– The race condition seems quite good. Last weekend there was a fast start, but you can’t start much slower. You just have to endure the pain, says Pärmäkoski.
Good news from Johanna Matintalo
Another interesting name before the Ruka World Cup weekend is Johanna Matintalo. He fell last weekend in the race won by Pärmäkoski on the descent of Impilinna. Matintalo was on his way to the podium, but fell to fourth.
Matintalo injured his shoulder in the situation. He revealed after the competition that he injured the same hand in June when he fell on roller skis in Vuokatti. Matintalo was in tears in the interview and stated that he would not have wanted to injure his hand again a week before the start of the World Cup.
On the eve of the Ruka World Cup, Matintalo said that the hand is in good shape. He had been able to go to the gym on Wednesday and to ski the traditional way on Thursday.
Matintalo does not believe that the hand affects performances in the World Cup.
– I was more scared in the situation than what actually happened. I had to go for magnetic resonance imaging in the summer. Some damage was found there. It somewhat hindered gym training during the training season. There was good reason to be afraid when similar sensations came. However, the fall of the summer was no small matter, Matintalo told Urheilu on Thursday.
Before his fall on Sunday, Matintalo had won the sprint at the Finnish Cup in Ruka on Saturday. Matintalo’s goal is to have a lot of good races this World Cup season.
– I’ve skied a couple of podium places, but the bad races have been very close to the points or out of the points. I would like my basic level to increase. That way, the bad races would be better than before, Matintalo says.
Matintalo was on the podium in the traditional sprint at the World Cup last season in Beitostölen. In the season before that, there was third place in Oberstdorf and fourth place in Ruka.
Matintalo says that a new coach has started this season Ville Nousiainen with the attitude of a general skier.
– We haven’t started a sprint ahead. Normal trips are also definitely interesting. I believe that the approach that seeks uniformity is also reflected in the sprint. Even on a bad day, I hope to be able to ski better, Matintalo explains, and sets out to get a place in the semifinals on Friday as a minimum goal.
broadcasts the events of the Ruka World Cup live on TV2, Areena, Puhee and the app.
Ruka World Cup program
Friday 24.11.
10.55 Cross-country sprint qualifying (p)
11.50 Combined men’s race (HS 142) hill section
3:55 p.m. Ski section of the combined men’s race (7.5 km)
17.00 Hill jumping men’s qualifying competition (HS 142)
Saturday 25.11.
9.55 Combined men’s hill section
10.55 Cross-country skiing, women’s 10 km (p)
13.10 Cross-country skiing, men 10 km (p)
15.10 Combined men’s cross-country skiing section (10 km)
17.10 Men’s 1st round of hill jumping
18.25 Men’s 2nd round of hill jumping
Sunday 26.11
9.55 Combined men’s joint start (10 km)
10.55 Cross-country skiing, women’s 20 km (v)
13.30 Cross-country skiing, men’s 20 km (v)
14.35 Combined men’s hill section
17.10 Men’s 1st round of hill jumping
18.25 Men’s 2nd round of hill jumping
Updated at 22:17. Pärmäkoski has skied the World Cup sprint at Ruka since 2008, not since 2014.