The name man of the Mäkima team told the public that he was injured during side exercises, which was not true. The coach admits that it was a leisure accident at Puijo in Kuopio.
Mäkimaa team’s long-term number one name Antti Aalton28, the absence drew attention in mid-April, when Rovaniemi was jumping from the SC medals.
Aalto, who finished 38th in the overall competition of the World Cup last season, told Urheilu that he was injured during “side exercises” and that he underwent back surgery a week before the interview. Aalto’s upper back had a vertebra injury repaired on the operating table, and the athlete is preparing for next season clearly behind the schedule of the rest of the Mäkiland team.
Urheilu has received information from several people, according to which Aalto spoke a modified truth about the background of his serious injury. Aalto, who survived a potentially very dangerous situation relatively unscathed, was injured when the national team’s ski jumpers and combined athletes celebrated their traditional end-of-season celebrations at Puijo in Kuopio.
Fell badly
Aalto crashed badly in the playful show jumping, where the representative athletes showed off their skills on the small junior hills of Puijo with so-called mini skis on their feet. At the same time, a big spring event for the students of the University of Eastern Finland was going on in Puijo, and the atmosphere was high.
Aalto’s personal coach, who starts as the head coach of the A national team Lauri Hakola admitted the matter to Urheilu on Monday. Aalto, on the other hand, announced that he did not want to comment at this stage.
– It has not been a guided activity, but a leisure event. Of course, you have to ask him why Antti has said this to the public. I personally think that in that acute situation he wanted to be in peace. It would have been smart to inform you earlier, so let’s state the mistake here.
According to Hakola, Aalto has been aware all along that the matter will come to light at some point. There were so many witnesses. Hakola believes that both the on-site treatment provided by the ambulance staff and the unlucky jump itself have also been filmed.
A traditional event
– I haven’t seen any footage myself and I wasn’t there. It was clear that at some point this had to go through. If there was anything to learn from this, maybe it’s that everyone thinks about what to do in their free time with a reasonable mind.
The athletes of the Mäkima team and the combined team have traditionally gathered together to celebrate the end of the season, whose program has often included, among other things, the now-unfortunately ended mini ski jump and various other tricks.
– From the beginning, Antti kept me on the map of what had happened. Of course it scares and worries, said Hakola, who did not want to comment further on Aalto’s health.
Hakola does not know if Aalto had consumed alcohol before he fell. The Kiteela-born jumper, who has represented Finland nine times in prestigious adult competitions, is however known to have a rather impeccable lifestyle if some of the Finnish hill giants of the past decades are taken as a point of comparison.
– I haven’t heard of this (alcohol use), but knowing Ant, I strongly doubt it. And although Antti now comments vaguely on his injury, he is extremely reliable and honest as a person.
Aalto, who finished fifth out of ten in the individual competitions of the World Cup, is currently able to practice his basic physics. A different kind of impact training and plastic ski jumping is still in the pipeline, and the next control examination is in a couple of weeks. However, Hakola believes that the time is enough for Aalto to have time to train himself to be competitively fit before the start of next season.