Perttu Hyvärinen’s victory went deep into the feelings of manager Olli-Pekka Ojansivu. In the middle of the week, the athlete sent a message that gave reason for optimism.
– I think it’s the manazer’s birthday today, so I had to send a little present, Perttu Hyvärinen snapped at the end of the interview, after he had taken the sensational and first victory of his career in the World Cup of Skiing.
On Sunday, Hyvärinen won the second stage of the Tour de Ski, the 10-kilometer split start raced on traditional skiing. Prior to this, Hyvärinen’s best finish in the World Cup was fifth.
By Manazer, Hyvärinen meant of course his manager and close friend Olli-Pekka Ojansivua. The volleyball legend who settled in Kuopio turned 36 on New Year’s Eve.
– A great bomb. I went deep into feelings. I don’t remember when I would have been so extremely happy for someone else, Ojansivu commented to Urheilu shortly after the competition.
– So it was a very good birthday present, he continued with a laugh.
The manager, who came up with colorful cooperation campaigns with Hyvärinen, said that he had been in close contact with the athlete recently and had an instinct that the top performance that had been hidden from the beginning of the season was coming.
– On Wednesday, Perttu sent a message like this: “Somehow it’s going really well.” You could already deduce something from that.
Ojansivu, who watched the competition alone and was “sickly excited”, played Trivial Pursuit with his family in the early evening at home, his mind racing. Later in the evening, the manager got a friend of his own age to talk with about the emotional states created by top sports.
– Let’s go Eemi Terportin (a long-time passer of the national volleyball team, who is on Christmas vacation from his club team in Ukraine) over to spend the night before.