“Only to the World Cup when they are clearly in the first category”

Much was expected from the Finnish female skiers from the World Cup in Ruka, but the result was ultimately poor. There were few winners and no prize places, but Urheilu’s experts are not worried.

Sports experts, Toni Roposen and Kalle Lassilan in my opinion, especially the third day of competition was Finland’s canine teeth, that is Krista Pärmäkoski and Kerttu Niskanen regarding Vaisu.

– Pärmäkoski should have fought for a place on the podium from those settings. Clearly, the going is not ready for the top skiers, Lassila said.

Roponen reminded that the ranking goals are and should be higher than before, because the tough Russian skiers are away from international competitions.

But even though the prize places were missed this time, the experts are not worried, especially for Pärmäkoski and Niskanen.

– Today the journey to the top was long for Krista, but she has shown so many times that she can raise her level in a few weeks. When in a couple of weeks we ski 10 kilometers on traditional, I strongly believe that Krista will fight for the first place, Roponen said.

According to Lassila, you can also see the Finnish way of training, with a strong focus on prestige competitions. Kerttu Niskanen said in an interview that his muscles are still burdened by training, and Lassila believes that the situation will get easier now that the competition season has started.

– There’s nothing to worry about, and it doesn’t always go wrong in every race. When a few things go awry, the result is like Kerttu yesterday. Today, he was able to catch the crowd, but he is not yet able to turn it into a victory, Lassila said.

The Swedish duo Frida Karlsson – Ebba Andersson showed in Ruka that they are ready to take Therese Johaugin the ski queen’s cape left for herself. Roponen believes that during the season as well Rosie Brennan and Jessie Diggins raise their shares, and he hopes the same from Finns.

The Norwegian women’s crisis has been talked about all autumn, but Ruka showed that we can’t talk about the actual crisis, at least not yet.

– Norwegian women are able to come out strong as a team. When they get the blocks together both in the sprint and on normal distances, they will be strong in Planica, Roponen said.

Lassila: Alakoski to tour the World Cup

Even though Ruka did not offer great success for female skiers, there were also things to be happy about during the weekend, among other things Jasmi to Joensuu final place in the sprint and Anni Alakoski leap towards the top.

– Throughout the early season, Anni has been at a better level than before and compared to Finns on practically all trips. I expect and hope that he will travel more widely from here to the World Cup, Lassila said.

In Roponen’s opinion Anne Kyllönen should return to the World Cup only when he is in the condition to be able to ski in the top 15.

– He is seventh or eighth among Finnish skiers. Young skiers should be sent to the World Cup sooner, and experienced athletes should be accepted to the World Cup only when they are clearly in the first category and give other value to the team, Roponen said.

It is not an easy task for the national team coaches to select skiers for the upcoming World Cup competitions, because very different types of competitions are skied during the race weekends. The track profiles are also very different in different locations, so changes can be expected for the result lists.

However, experts are confident that familiar names will find their way to the top.

– Yes, Krista and Kertu now have the thousand-dollar place to even take the position of the number one woman in world skiing. At the moment we are far from that, that’s how hard the Swedes went on both Saturday and Sunday, Roponen said.