Only 20 years old Perttu Reposen the name has been associated with the following Finnish winter sports people for the past few years.
Exactly one year ago, Reponen reached the best World Cup ranking of his career after finishing 20th in Val di Fiemme. His Olympic debut in Beijing was also high-quality, where Reponen was 22nd in the individual competition.
When the season ended in Zakopane with the youth World Cup team gold, which was also preceded by individual World Cup silver, expectations for Repo were high for the 2022–2023 season.
Reponen is 187 centimeters tall and has a good range Hannu Manninen like an athlete. Former head coach of the national team Petter Kukkonen already in the summer of 2020, the mantle heir from Repose to Mannen, who achieved the second most race victories in the history of the World Cup, 48.
Jump to the present. When the International Ski Federation FIS announced on Tuesday that it had canceled two Klingenthal World Cup competitions due to a lack of snow, there are only ten individual competitions left in the Cup calendar.
So far, there are nine shots on the back, and Reponen still hasn’t opened his season.
The reason for the absence can be found in a long-standing illness, which Reponen does not want to reveal in more detail.
– I have been sick throughout the training season. Now I’ve been able to train, but I’m not ready to compete yet, Reponen said when Urheilu asked him for an interview.
The cycle started with the army
Born in Kite on February 18, 2000, Repose has a busy summer behind him, as he completed his military service in the sports forces of the Kainuu brigade in April-September.
The current head coach of the national team Antti Kuisman according to Repose’s cycle of illness starts from the turn of April-May.
According to Kuisma, Repose’s jumping condition would already allow him to compete, but the problems are in skiing because the athlete has not been able to do enough high-quality endurance training.
– We hoped that the cycle of illness would ease when the army ended, but that wish did not come true. In this situation, you have to think very carefully about when Perttu is ready to compete and how much he will be competed before the World Championships, says Kuisma.
According to the head coach, Repose’s return has already been postponed several times.
– Originally, the goal was to compete before Christmas. Then the goal was moved to the weekend in Otepää, but the cycle of illness got longer.
– Even though the endurance basics are good, two to three weeks of good basic training are needed to get the man back into competition, says Kuisma.
Others also have absences
Reponen is not the only Finnish combined national team athlete who has fallen ill this season.
Leevi Mutru has not been able to compete since the opening weekend of the World Cup, which ended in 14th place for him. Also got sick after Ruka Otto Niittykoski was able to return to the games in Otepää and took the best World Cup ranking of his career after being 23rd.
However, the ranking was affected by the fact that six athletes from the top 20 of the World Cup were missing from the competitions in Otepää.
– When we lived in a bubble because of covid, everyone’s resistance to various influenzas and viruses seems to be lower, says Kuisma.
Back in Seefeld?
Kuisma estimates that Repose’s return to competitions could be possible on the 27th-29th. January in Seefeld, Austria.
The World Championships start in Planica, Slovenia, for the combined part, on February 25. Before that, the World Cup tour stops in two more German cities, Oberstdorf and Schonach.
Since the cycle of illness has hampered Repose’s training for more than half a year, Kuisma emphasizes the importance of patience in the return schedule.
– I have not yet come across very many people who have had such so-called normal flus on a monthly or annual basis. At some point it has to change, says Kuisma.