Suvi Minkkinen has excelled in the biathlon world cup, but squatted violently in her previous competition. Coach Mikko Viitanen talks about suspected flu.
Roope Visuri,
Riku Salminen
From the current season’s Finnish biathlon sensation Summer from Minkkinen clearly seen the weakest race of the season, when he was only 69th in the fast track at the Anterselva World Cup on Thursday. Minkkinen fired two missed shots. He didn’t even make it to Saturday’s pursuit race.
The reason for Minkkinen’s level up this season has been an increased skiing speed, but now even that was far from the top.
So should Minkkinen be worried? Urheilu’s biathlon expert Kaisa Mäkäräinen said directly in the Sports Studio on Saturday during the day that you shouldn’t worry. He perhaps calmed down the worried bench sports people.
– Several areas of biathlon went wrong on the same day. It’s really hard to get top performance. Suvi has managed to get the pieces right this season very evenly. Maybe it’s a good thing that the ski equipment goes a little wrong, the skiing doesn’t run and there are two more fines in the speed race, Mäkäräinen answered.
Minkkinen had already warned before the race that his skiing speed would slow down because it would take longer for him to adapt to the high altitude.
Now the Biathlon World Cup tour had three days between Ruhpolding in Germany and Anterselva in Italy. The competition venue is now 1,600 meters above sea level, and the Finnish national team is staying at 1,300 meters.
According to Mäkäräinen, Minkkinen has not yet had time to adjust to the opening of the competition weekend in Anterselva, but there are two and a half weeks until the World Championships in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. By then, Mäkäräinen thinks Minkkinen will have time to adapt to the high altitude.
– Summer will be high, and will not come to Finland at all. Of course, you have to be smart about the training program. You don’t just train hard and get overworked as a result, says Mäkäräinen.
Urheilu also reached Minkkinen’s personal trainer on Saturday evening Mikko I refer by phone. He is not worried about his protégé either.
– The situation seems good. There will be bad days. There was also a little concern whether the flu was coming, Viitanen also reveals new information about health problems.
However, according to the coach, the flu is no longer coming.
– It seems so now. It was quieter for a few days. The height also had an effect at the beginning. It does its own thing, if there are feelings anyway, Viitanen says.
A top 30 ranking in the World Championships would be a tough thing
The three months spent in Central Europe last summer have been seen as the turning point in 30-year-old Minkkinen’s career.
– After all, it played a big role, but we have done somewhat more training in Central Europe than other national team athletes, Viitanen says.
Now, the time spent in Central Europe was clearly increased and the focus was on skiing until the end of August.
The Central European camp cost about 15,000 euros, which Minkkinen was able to get from his sponsors.
Over the course of the season, the sports studio has considered whether it would have been worthwhile for Minkkinen to make a similar decision much earlier. It has been argued that the career could have taken off much earlier.
– After all, this has been talked about before, but it has not been financially successful. Now we managed to collect so much budget. Suvi certainly started doing this even at risk, when she dared to put a large part of the sponsor’s money into this, Viitanen responds to the hot speculation.
The rise of Minkkinen and the Finnish national biathlon team in general raises expectations towards the World Championships.
Minkkinen goes to the World Cup in eighth place overall in the World Cup.
According to the coach, what can be expected from Finland’s number one hope at the World Cup?
– I’ve always told Suvi that placing in the top 30 is tough. Finishing in the top 20 is even tougher. When we start talking about tithe investments, it depends on the day.
– It has been seen that even top skiers can sometimes be on the worse side of forty. A 10-something investment would be tough in those rough places, Viitanen reflects.
Suvi Minkkinen will be in the Finnish team on Sunday, when the women’s relay is still competing at the Anterselva World Cup. Live broadcast at Areena at 13:00. You can find everything from the Urheilustudio weekend here!