The skiing season opened at the weekend in Vuokatti’s Suomen cup, but now the stakes are only increasing. The continuation of the sports studio packages the events of the opening competition of the season.
During the opening weekend of the Finnish Cup, two topics came up in Vuokatti: who is fit and fluoride creams.
– They talked more about things related to the competition, i.e. what state of fitness the athletes are in, how each succeeds and who is in shape, Urheilu’s expert Jussi Piirainen stated.
Especially based on Saturday’s sprint races Jasmi Joensuu and Olli Ahonen seemed to be in a strong mood, as both clearly stood out from the crowd.
The fluorine ban in skiing is valid only in competitions under the International Ski Federation and the International Biathlon Union, so fluoride creams were used in the Suomen Cup. It means extra work for the maintenance teams, when all the fluorine residues have to be removed. Even a small amount of fluoride cream residues can cause a positive result in the test.
– When the group packed their skis on Sunday, some thought about which skis to take for the next weekend and which ones to wash for the World Cup. Many people have to think about their equipment a lot.
Who surprised?
Many young skiers raised their shares in Vuokatti and made themselves known. However, Jussi Piirainen highlights the runner-up in the sprint race Tiia Olkkonen23.
– Of course, it was expected that he would ski hard, but the fact that he skied so well all day and was second in the race was a small surprise.
The skier from Haapajärvi’s Kiilojo belongs to the B national team and has been able to ski especially in the domestic World Cup competitions in recent years. However, the Cup points have not yet been achieved. The skier himself was surprised by his own speed. He said that he jumped to the top spots by accident.
– On the men’s side Eemil Juntunen (20) was strong all day. Oskari Hökkä (24) was the winner of the qualifier, but due to a crash in the first round, it was not possible to see how hard he would have been able to ski.
Who flopped?
In Jussi Piirainen’s opinion, Vuokatti didn’t see one big flop. Ville Ahonen however, the start of the relay in the ranks of Imatra’s athletes was not what was expected from the national team member.
– The fact that he didn’t stay with the start of the relay was surprising. However, I don’t think that Ville’s condition is what the result of the message indicates. The opening race of the season, and his free style of skiing is not that strong and were the skis as slippery as the opponents’. There were question marks.
Also Verneri Suhonen being in the semi-finals of the sprint was disappointing, but Suhonen’s crash at the end of the straight had an effect on this.
– It was not possible to see what his result would have been. The expectations were bigger than the end result.
What the hell?
Jasmi Joensuu revealed the “secret” of her speed in an interview with Urheilu when she dug dry food for her dog Keijo out of her pocket.
– I’ve been drinking these all day, he laughed.
Perttu Hyvärinen again showed great body control in the start of the sprint. According to Jussi Piirainen, the national team skier’s pirouette was quite a skillful performance, although the man himself said that he tried to flip in the situation.
What next?
The season has now opened, the machines have been started and now the stakes are increasing, because in the next two weekends we will be skiing observation races for Ruka and the early season world cups.
Next weekend we will be skiing the 10-kilometer races in freestyle skiing in Olos and the 15-kilometer races in the Kainuu Winter Games, and the following weekend the Suomen Cup in traditional skiing in Ruka. After the Finnish Cup in Ruka, the first World Cup team of the season will be announced.
– The top skiers are not yet under pressure to succeed, because they are still influenced by last season’s international performances, but for many others these are already important competitions, Piirainen reminded.
– These competitions offer an opportunity to get to Ruka and perhaps tour more of the World Cup or the Scandinavian Cup.