Eero Rantala, who reached the under-20 WC sprint bronze in January, was close to beating Even Northug and Lucas Chanavat in the stadium sprint.
Ossi Saarinen,
STT Sports
22:11•Updated 22:11
The sprint stars of cross-country skiing took over the Helsinki Olympic Stadium in Wednesday night’s stadium sprint.
The evening was a Norwegian party: Johannes Hösflot Kläbo played for victory in the men’s, and took the victory in the women’s Ane Appelkvist Stenseth.
The best Finn was Jasmi Joensuu, who finished third in the final. Joensuu is going into next weekend’s Salpausselkä games in a strong mood.
The Finnish glow could already be seen in the preliminaries, when Eero Rantala, 19, fought seriously for the set win. Rantala, who skied without prejudice, got to the end of the straight from good positions, but the breaking of the pole watered down the race.
A direct continuation place remained a dream, but the audience present voted Rantala to the semi-finals. Rantala, who skied bronze in the under-20 world championships in January, had eaten his lunch after a tough start.
No World Cup points were awarded in Helsinki, but in the case of Kläbo, the talk quickly turned to the one-season win record. Kläbo already has 18 wins this season, which is a season-specific record for men.
Next weekend in Lahti, Kläbo has a chance to reach 20 wins, which he would Therese Johaugin record.
– There is an important weekend ahead, but I will take it one race at a time, Kläbo said and said that he will also ski a pair relay in Lahti.
– It’s great to end the World Cup season in Finland.
Jasmi Joensuu was the only Finn to make it to the finals in the stadium sprint. He struggled for a long time with Norway’s Stenseth, but Sweden Johanna Hagström dropped him down the straight to third.
The public encouraged Joensuu with “Jasmi, Jasmi, Jasmi” shouts, which the skier enjoyed. It reminded Joensuu of the opening of the World Cup in Ruka, when he finished fourth in the sprint.
– I was able to enjoy this kind of encouragement already at Ruka. Now I decided that I don’t want to be fourth and that podium place came, Joensuu was happy.
The Salpausselkä races are contested in Lahti from Friday to Sunday. The races are shown widely on ‘s channels.
Stadionsprint finals, Helsinki
1. Johannes Hösflot Kläbo NOR 2.16.58
2. Even Northug NOR +0.99
3. Richard Jouve FRA +1.46
4. Lucas Chanavat FRA +2.16
1. Ane Appelkvist Stenseth NOR 2.37,17
2. Johanna Hagström SWE +0.25
3. Jasmi Joensuu FIN +0.32
4. Mathilde Myhrvold NOR +0.76