Before the hill section, the best Finn in the skiing section was Leevi Mutru, who finished 14th in skiing. Although Ilkka Herola finished in 32nd place, the difference to the top means only a few points on the hill.
Emma Hyuppa,
Riikka Smolander-Slotte
On the final day of the Ruka World Cup, the hill section of the combined event is exceptionally only contested in the afternoon after the cross-country section. The game is still completely open, as the differences in the ten kilometer ski section skied as a joint start were quite small. The hill section starts at 4:15 p.m.
The top 30 skiers were within 15 seconds of each other.
Eero Hirvonen was frustrated after the skiing section. He finished 15th, although the difference to the top was less than eight seconds.
– That’s just fooling around. I don’t know whose idea this form of competition is. You can’t ski there, and nobody wants to ski when you can’t get differences. That’s pointless, that’s all, Hirvonen said.
In Hirvonen’s opinion, in this form of competition, only the hill section has any meaning.
– It doesn’t matter how hard you ski and you’re alone on the hat shelf. A group of 40 guys comes downhill from behind a freezing ride and starts to catch up. That’s a terrible joke, Hirvonen said.
Last season, the cross-country section was skied before the hill section in Otepää, Estonia, where the course is easier than in Ruka, and thus it is even more difficult to make differences.
– A completely pointless competition format. You could think again, Hirvonen said.
An unmissable place for Ilkka Herola
Known as a hard skier Ilkka Herola was only in 32nd place in the skiing section. However, the difference to the top was only 17 seconds, which means only a few points on the hill.
– 17 seconds seems to do a good one and a half meters up the hill, Herola was amazed at the insignificance of the skiing section.
Herola stated that it doesn’t help to be overwhelmed by the competition format, even if the chances of success for an athlete like him remain slim.
– As everyone can see, that makes no sense. It has nothing to do with sports. I can’t really understand. It has already been known in advance that the width and hardness of this track is not enough to be able to ski together, so why does it have to be forced here. It probably needs a little development.
The tenth joint start was started based on the overall rankings of the World Cup, so Herola was number 25.
– When I started from the fifth row, at the end of the fourth lap was the first chance that I could lift myself to the hose that determines the speed. Otherwise, I was stuck in the back all the time, Herola said.
The competition format suited Leevi Mutru
Leevi Mutru ranked highest among Finns in the skiing section, 14th.
– Now that I’m a bit less fit on that track, it suits me just fine. Now let’s go see the fitness on the hill, Mutru said.
– By the way, I am on the same lines as the boys. If this were changed to an intermediate start, it might make a difference in skiing.
The ski section of the joint has been in use since 1985 Gunder Gundersen’s developed and bearing the name of the competition format, in which the point differences in the hill section have been changed to seconds, according to which the athletes start the cross-country section after the winner.
– Gundersen has come up with a good way for us combined athletes to compete. It is the salt of this species. It should stay there, but the trips could be varied a bit, Mutru said.