Cycling has been an important and beloved hobby for Matti Suur-Hamari and a form of side training for years. There are no big performance goals, but the enthusiasm for training is high.
Two-time Paralympic gold medalist in snowboard cross Matti Suur-Hamari heading for a new career as a cyclist. Suur-Hamari, who ended his active snowboarding career, will join the Beijing Paralympics UN Cycling Team x Bike Pit – to the cycling garage.
The goal of the new Finnish team is to create a professional team for the 2027 season. Niki Tuuli. The list also includes, among other things, the winner of the road cup last season Jaakko Sillankorva.
For Suur-Hamari, cycling has been an important and beloved pastime for a long time.
– It’s not exactly a vertical forest here. Cycling has also been a strong part of side training during my snowboarding career, and now there was a great opportunity to join a new local team, says Suur-Hamari, 38.
– I accepted the challenge and will get to that famous discomfort zone. Let’s ride to road and gravel events. I’m very excited and we’ll see what the future and the journey brings.
In the past, Suur-Hamari has especially been a fan of downhill cycling, but with age, endurance sports have also become interesting in a different way.
– We are facing a big challenge here, and no performance goals have been created other than to allow ourselves to surpass ourselves, to participate in the games and develop at our own level. The next months and next summer will certainly be sweaty moments, because it is a slightly different sport than snowboard cross.
Los Angeles is still far away
In addition to the Paralympics, Suur-Hamari, who has won four World Championship gold medals and won first place in the X Games, has no longer wanted to compete with a snowboard wearing a competition vest, but he is interested in goal-oriented training. Professional sportsmanship has been a large part of the identity, and cycling meets current needs.
– Surely every athlete who has retired can agree with the idea that a certain kind of vacuum remains in them after their career. Maybe this is where you have found something that you can focus your goal-oriented fire on.
– It’s great to be able to learn from young, goal-oriented drivers and maybe you can also give them something from your own career, so to speak, outside the pits.
Suur-Hamari has already seen the Paralympics three times in the winter, but cycling also brings with it the opportunity to fight for a place in the summer games in Los Angeles. He does not completely rule out the possibility if everything goes smoothly in the coming years.
– I’ve been thinking about it with interest, but in my disability category the para-cycling side is going at an amazing pace. At least at this stage, there are not enough chips, but if the stars are in the right position and the average wattage is reached to the level where a place in the competition would be possible, then why not.
– So there is a lot of travel, but now let’s focus on the moment, enjoy training and maybe run some qualifying races. I don’t have huge expectations of being on a bike at the Paralympics, but it would be great.