Urheilu’s expert Toni Roponen says that Frida Karlsson’s hit looked harder than it is. No less than three Finnish women can fight for an individual World Cup medal in Planica.
19:48•Updated 19:51
By far the biggest topic of conversation on the closing day of the Tour de Ski was Sweden Frida Karlsson violent snapping after entering the finish line. Karlsson lay for a long time on the surface of the snow. Swedish coach by Stefan Thomson according to the star athlete was unconscious for a minute.
However, Karlsson’s condition gradually improved. The 23-year-old endurance machine became the second Swede in history to win the Tour de Ski. Charlotte Kalla conquered what has become a classic tour in the 2007-2008 season.
Karlsson, who arrived at the finish line in 15th place, has seen hard breaks before. Sports expert Toni Roponen coached Matti from Heikki, who was an athlete like Karlsson. Heikkinen literally gave everything he had to the track, which was visible long after the race.
Roponen sees that Karlsson has no problems recovering from a total blackout.
– When an athlete is able to completely fog his head and gets dripped, it looks wild. In two or three days, Frida will be on skis and will probably be able to ski hard in two weeks.
Roponen says that in Karlsson’s case it is probably an energy deficit.
– When you want to win something, few athletes in the world are able to cross those limits. Frida is one of them. It looks worse than it is.
Neck in “great shape”
Kerttu Niskanen skied the best Tour of his life and was second in the overall results. In the final distance, Niskanen persevered handsomely in fourth place.
– This was a wonderful performance from him. He showed tremendous fitness in Val di Fiemme and also on the final climb. It bodes well for the future, says Roponen.
A total of 12 Finns started the Tour, of which only four made it to the finish line. Krista Pärmäkoski and Jasmi Joensuu had to stop the tour due to a stomach bug.
– At the Beijing Olympics, we succeeded perfectly in health care and achieved top results. When Corona is over and other diseases move more easily, this time it happened like this. It is essential to recover well and focus on the rest of the season.
Great World Cup views
The footsteps of the Finns at the Tour de Ski to the World Championships in Planica, which will be held in February-March, are delicious.
Both Pärmäkoski and Kerttu Niskanen were in excellent shape at the Tour. Niskanen was second in the traditional pursuit race and third in the joint start race of the same type of skiing.
Pärmäkoski, on the other hand, loaded the ascending screens on the table before his stomach disease. Last winter’s Olympic bronze medalist was second in both the traditional intermediate start race and the 20 kilometer pursuit race. In the latter, Pärmäkoski showed the best freestyle skiing of his career.
– I don’t think he (Pärmäkoski) will have any problems getting into top form in Planica. As for Kertu, I believe that the condition will still improve after the Tour de Ski. He is at a really tough level as an endurance athlete, which a Tour like this only raises for his part.
In addition to Pärmäkoski and Niskanen, Finnish skiers have also reached the top three this season Johanna Matintalo. He was third in the traditional sprint in Beitostölen in December. The trip in question is part of Planica’s World Cup program.
– There are three athletes with medal potential. Of course, other women also have the prerequisites to raise their own fitness levels.
Iivo Niskanen the early season has been ragged due to the corona virus. At the Tour de Ski, the three-time Olympic champion showed promising progress in the traditional pursuit race, where he was the eighth fastest in the division times. Niskanen stopped his tour after the third stage.
– Iivo Niskanes has had a pretty minor victory in the early season, but I believe that he is ready to fight against tough Norwegians in the 50 km traditional race, Roponen refers to the final distance of the World Championships.
Roponen also highlights the Finnish men who were missing from the Tour Arsi Ruuskanen mixed Remi Lindholm. The duo flashed their energy from the beginning of the season.