Remi Lindholm skied 15 kilometers of free skiing to a clear Finnish championship.
12:06•Updated 12:21
Remi Lindholm won the first general series Finnish championship of his career, when the skier of Imatra Athletes took his name in the 15 km race in free skiing.
Lindholm dominated the race from start to finish. He beat Joni Mäki, who finished silver in Tampere, by 20.8 seconds.
Lindholm came from the goal almost directly to the interview area.
– There was a lot of falling at the end. I ended up laughing a little at that. I knew that victory would come, Lindholm said.
The 25-year-old skier had last competed in the Davos World Cup the weekend before Christmas. That’s when Lindholm got the best World Cup ranking of his career. He reached 11th place in the 20 km freestyle skiing competition.
Lindholm says that he trained well after the World Cup in Davos.
– Here, we were just testing how to ride on the training track. Now the preparation for the next World Cups and possibly the World Championships is just starting. Until today, not everything had been uploaded, Lindholm states.
Lindholm did not take part in the Tour de Ski at the turn of the year, but he says that he got a high-quality training session during the ski tour.
– Now you can compete every weekend as much as you want until spring, Lindholm said.
Sports expert Kalle Lassila was impressed by Lindholm’s visit in Tampere.
– From the beginning, Remi put the flour in others’ mouths, Lassila praised.
Lassila estimates that, on a good day, Lindholm can ski in the top ten in international skis.
– Remi’s performances have also been such that it is possible to fight for medals with the relay team, Lassila stated.
Joni Mäki from an unpredictable situation to medals
According to Lassila also Joni Mäki took his own in the competition. Lassila stated that Mäki competed for silver with a reasonable speed distribution and used his strengths.
– It was a good race today. Now I got an upward trend, Mäki said himself.
Mäki was also last in an international competition at the World Cup in Davos five weeks ago. The competition break felt long.
– It was quite a varied process (during the practice break). Sometimes quite weak, but sometimes promising. I couldn’t wait for what the weekend would bring, said Mäki, who already celebrated gold in the pair sprint on Friday.
The 19-year-old took the SM bronze Niko Anttola.
– It’s a good thing to be able to challenge Finland’s top team, even though not everyone was there, said Anttola, who will next go to the World Junior Championships.
About national team athletes Markus Vuorela was sixth and Arsi Ruuskanen seventh. Lauri Lepistö came only in 19th place. At the Tampere WC, screenings are given for the World Cup competitions in France and Italy, which are important in terms of World Cup places.
– Vuorela and Ruuskanen were quite far in this competition. Lauri Lepistö is now in a difficult situation. He is showing signs after a good early season and was really far today, Lassila stated.