The mixed-pair sprint trial, which ended the World Ski Cup, did not receive an unreserved reception from Finnish skiers. Head coach Teemu Pasanen wanted clearer rules for the competition format.
Kimmo Porttila,
Anu Karttunen
The first couple of messages in history did not receive an unreserved reception from Finnish skiers. Jasmi Joensuu liked a race format with a lot of situations, but Lauri Vuorinen would have preferred to race with mixed pairs on a standard pairprint formula.
– This hasn’t gone to favorites now, but let’s see if there are any more. Joni Mäki stated to Sport after the race.
For Vuorinen and Johanna Matintalo, the competition was nice in that they got to compete together for the first time as cohabitants. According to Vuorinen, the tactics were easy to think about, as there was no language barrier between the couple.
– When this was such an experiment in the World Cup, it is not yet known whether this will continue. Maybe this was a unique experience, so it was great to get to race this one time at least, Matintalo said.
The Finnish pairs were unlucky in the race, as the first team fell before the sixth substitution and the second team in the next playoff round. The ranking of Finland’s second team was 11th and the number one team’s 12th, with Sweden celebrating an overwhelming victory.
Joni Mäki was unlucky as he crashed into Norway’s No. 1 team Harald Östberg Amundsen because of. Amundsen reached the substitution area just before Mäki and the team advanced and finally finished third in the race. The hill was by no means the only downhill, as there were several skiers moving along the race.
– Maybe I tried to go inside it a bit unnecessarily and when the guy started to turn in it, the skis hit together and it was going, Mäki repeated.
Mountain: “Time is barren”
Lauri Vuorinen was also barely left in the final round of the big group. Vuorinen got on the track in relatively good positions, but on the last ascent he was left last. Vuorinen pulled a full swing, losing his footing on the muddy pitch. The Slovenian team had the same situation.
Matintalo came to the next exchange in the fifth and Anamarija Lampic brought Slovenia as a second exchange before the duo noticed that their journey would no longer continue.
– Johanna skied one of her best skis, and Lampick was pulled out. Pretty harsh, Vuorinen said.
– I didn’t even think we’d fallen. I went skiing to the fullest and I was quite surprised when I came to the finish line and saw that Lauri was standing there behind the start. The substitution stretches were pretty tight and it felt like the athletes weren’t quite aware of who fell and who was allowed to continue, Matintalo said.
Too many moving parts
Head coach Teemu Pasasen I think the biggest stumbling block in this experiment is in the rules.
– I would like the rules to be as simple as possible and so that there are not too many moving parts. Sports solutions should be available to everyone, Pasanen said.
The so-called non-contact change was also used in the mixed-pair message, where a skier leaving on the track was allowed to start only after the exchange importer had crossed the adjacent change line. Matintalo thinks this system worked well.
– It came to the exchange place at such a fast pace that it would have rumbled today if I had had to touch the couple. As such, the idea for the exchange worked well, he noted.