The Legend of the United Hannu Manninen has seen a lot in his sport and is not startled by a little. On Sunday, however, Manninen’s measure came full circle, when a 10-kilometer joint start was skied in Ruka, which would be followed later in the day by a jumping one-lap hill section.
In practice, you could have gone straight up the hill, because on the track, racing sport was conspicuous by its absence, except for the last half kilometer.
Manninen followed the skiing part in connection with his children’s hobbies, but he couldn’t bear to be alone with his frustration.
– I had to call home For Heli (wife), when it looked so awful, says Manninen.
The 2.5 km ski slope used in Ruka had such a profile that none of the 50 athletes tried to break away from the main crowd. Thus, after 24 minutes, we reached the finish line as one team, having achieved a record 49 victories in the World Cup Jarl Magnus Riiberin pulled by.
– It’s not a good company, Manninen, who has won the second most Cup wins in history, 48, says and wonders why the organizers skied the athletes on that run.
Manninen is worried about the state of his sport. Although combined will be seen at the 2026 Olympics in Italy, its Olympic status has been questioned. In the Olympic fields of Val di Fiemme, you will see significantly smaller athletes than usual, as only 35 athletes qualify for the Games.
In this state, the team desperately needs a boost, but Manninen estimates that Ruka’s weekend did not bring new friends to the sport.
Of the three-day races, only Saturday followed the standard pattern, where first one jumps one round of hills and then skis ten kilometers in pursuit.
The other two races were practically decided on the hill, as the skiing distance on Friday was only five kilometers. What makes the shortened ski race particularly problematic is that Ruka’s HS140 hill is the most difficult of the season for the combined competitors, and because of its profile, the differences between good and bad jumpers are huge.
– This weekend was not the kind of advertisement that the combined company needs.
– In the future, the vito race must be changed to ten kilometers, and the mass start should not be contested under any circumstances. An alternative course should be considered so that strong skiers can also be brought out. When there are big differences on the hill, you should also try to compensate on the piste, so that hard skiers have at least some chance, Manninen says.
In the future, Manninen prefers to organize two normal competitions rather than the mix of three seen now.
Neither is Manninen’s competition partner from the past years, two-time Olympic champion and five-time world champion Bjarte Engen Vik don’t want to see another mass departure like Sunday.
– It was hard to lose interest in this, Vik communicated after the skiing section.
– Fortunately, there is only one of these mass departures per season. I wouldn’t mind if this wasn’t there either.
Competition program for consideration
Member of the Joint Committee of the International Ski Federation FIS Jyri Pelkonen admits that the competition program that was currently in use was not successful.
– Five kilometers of skiing is not suitable for this hill, and as we have just seen, a mass start is not the best possible either.
The national federations can propose what kind of competitions they would like, but the final program is decided by the FIS.
– My personal view is that three normal individual competitions would fit here, Pelkonen says.
– I believe that if there is a chance for three competitions in the future, this will be next year’s calendar show.