There will be an exceptionally fierce battle for the sprint spots of the Finnish skiing World Cup team – “When winter comes, we’ll see if we’re still friends”

The sprints of the Lillehammer World Cup will be contested on Saturday, December 3. Sprint qualifying at 10:30 a.m. and heats at 1 p.m.

There is fierce competition for sprint spots in the Finnish men’s cross country team.

The men’s national team consists of 13 men, of which 7 men are competing in the sprint. When you add to this the skiers putting pressure on the B national team, there are about 10 men fighting for the World Cup places.

Responsible for the men’s sprint team Ville Oksanen considers the competitive situation to be good.

– We have several skiers who can clearly ski hard. Everyone in the team has skied in the top 30 last year as well, Oksanen said.

Sports expert Kalle Lassilan in my opinion, the competition for the World Cup representative places is not too tight at the moment, even though the battle on the international sprint tracks is still getting tighter and more even.

The Finnish team’s athlete quota allows six athletes to participate in the sprint races of the World Cup as well as normal trips. For example, Finland named an 11-man team for the Lillehammer World Cup weekend.

On the other hand, when competing for a place in the World Championships in Planica, the situation changes. In value races, only four athletes per country can go to each distance, and in value races only one individual trip is available for sprinters.

– It really increases the pressure on the sprinters. If the prize competition place is not released, it will be a bit like a bone in the hand, Lassila stated.

According to Lassila, the competitive situation in the national team is currently more versatile than before. The skiers are of different ages and in different stages of their careers. There are skiers who are already at the international top, but also new, young newcomers. Some of the activities focus more on self-development, not so much on mutual competition.

– At that stage, when there are 5-6 men, all of whom have skied in the top 10 or even in the finals, then the competition gets much tougher. Now many are at the stage where the level needs to rise in order to be competitive skiers, Lassila said.

Competitive elements in training

There has been no desire to separate the sprint national team into its own group, for example because it has been possible to offer the same support services to everyone at the camps. More sprinters have enabled training to be better targeted. Most of the training is done with standard-distance skiers, but the sprinters have also been able to do their own, high-quality training.

These exercises have included competition simulations, qualifying and batch-type exercises, with a special focus on the final draw. In addition, the sprinters have done, among other things, speed exercises where skiing techniques are changed within the moves.

– With these, a competitive element is specifically sought. There will be a lot of being in a group, changing places or changing techniques, Oksanen said.

Joni Mäki has recently been Finland’s number one sprinter and the heaviest mantle of success is placed on his shoulders this season as well. As the team’s coach, Oksanen also wants new athletes to reach the same level.

– The goal is that we can take sprinting forward as a whole and the athletes will be able to improve their results from the previous season.

Newcomer to the team, Lauri Mannilahas been satisfied with the sprinters’ joint training and the fact that the competition feeds every skier.

– We have a good spirit among the sprinters. We’ll see when winter comes, how bloody it gets and if we’re still friends, Mannila laughed.

On trips, Mannila often shares a room with another promising sprinter, Niilo Moilanen with. Moilanen, who is from Oulu, and Mannila, who spent her youth in Raahe, have known each other since they were juniors. The competition between the two continues fiercely.

– Certainly in the winter we compete a lot with each other for some of the same things and there will be tough fights. But normally we compete in the games and otherwise we are good friends, he assured.

Last year’s Ruka changed Lauri Mannila’s world of thought

A year ago, Lauri Mannila rushed from outside the headlines in the Ruka World Cup sprint to the second best result among Finnish men, being 15th in the race.

The first World Cup points and an equal battle with the best in the world had a great impact on the then 23-year-old sprinter’s way of thinking: it boosted his self-confidence and Mannila broke into the group of sprinters traveling around the World Cup.

– That’s when I noticed that I can go around these competitions and if I get a place, I have a chance to succeed and go on from the preliminaries, Mannila stated at the beginning of the new competition season.

This year, Ruka did not offer quite as tasty a result, even though the track with its long working sections and climbs is one of Mannila’s favorites. He was one of the Finns whose race ended with a fall at the turning point of the first climb. Next weekend, Mannila will get a new company in Lillehammer.

This winter, Ville Oksanen wants to see that Mannila sharpens what he has done this season in the games and takes the next step, i.e. get from the semifinal stage to the semifinal stage. There are characteristics of a skier, as well as attitude.

– Lauri is a powerful skier and is able to use his upper body strength to his advantage. As a strong skier, he also has good endurance characteristics, Oksanen characterized.

– And even though he is a really calm guy, yes, there is also a temperament. In a few races, the poles have flown.

This temperament was also seen last weekend in Ruka, when Mannila had fallen. He admits that he can get angry at times, even though he has calmed down with age.

– In the past, if one pole broke, then usually the other one broke too. I have matured, but certainly in a competitive situation I am a bit of a different type. If I haven’t succeeded, then it’s just to accept that today didn’t go forward.

Mannila considers herself a slow sprinter, but even though she is not the most explosive and fastest of all, she has economy and power output. Especially at high speed, his strengths come to the fore and in traditional skiing, his strong upper body enables a good straight push.

The sprint stages often last from three to four minutes. Mannila has always trained with an emphasis on endurance, and the duration of the sprint is just the right size for her.

– It’s just the right aerobic endurance performance for me. I get the most out of it myself.

The high school years strengthened the passion

Lauri Mannila did not become a skier by chance. His father Seppo Mannila has competed in skiing, so Lauri got on skis as soon as he learned to walk and he was also taken to ski school at a young age. Today also a little brother Eero21, skis competitively.

Mannila has sometimes wondered what fascinated her the most in skiing, because she was involved in everything from football to orienteering. He wasn’t even successful in his junior years, but still getting to the skiing competition was the best.

– The sport was probably already fascinated by its ruggedness as a child. Skiing is a brutal sport that requires disciplined work. At the same time, it is also fascinating. Different types of athletes can succeed in it and you can always develop something, Mannila reflected.

Family has been of great importance to Mannila’s skiing career, not least because her father acts as her coach. There has been enough understanding and support, but skiing has not been the only topic of conversation.

– Now, especially since skiing is my profession, I have to draw a line. Our relationship is not just about sports.

Mannila’s attitude towards skiing became serious when she moved to Sotkamo eight years ago and stayed there. At Vuokatti sports high school, he shared an apartment with a national team skier Remi Lindholm with and in the same annual course there were other hard factors, such as Miro Karpanen, Niko Husu and biathlon Tuomas Harjula.

The high school years served as a place of growth for Mannila, and it also strengthened her passion for competitive skiing.

– At that time, I had to grow as a person, and as an athlete I also got a school of learning what it is to be a professional athlete and how to do things professionally. They have been important years.

The national team brought more control

The first summer at the national team camp was instructive for Lauri Mannila, and he considered it the best training season of his career.

Often national team debutants fall into too hard training, but for Mannila the national team brought more control. He was thus able to avoid the training pitfalls he had fallen into before.

– The national team has given me the right amount of self-confidence. I trust my own doing, and I don’t look at the pages too much, Mannila said, but she also said that she followed great athletes.

– I’ve been in their shoes, then you don’t have to think about every issue yourself. You can take an example from them in everyday life.

Mannila progresses one season and one competition at a time, so this season she has enough goals. He has the spring competitions in mind most clearly.

– In the big picture, the goal is to get those seconds off the time so that I always have points in the World Cup and then I get a chance to advance in the heats. The World Championships in Planica have a traditional sprint, and that is the best distance for me. I think it’s quite realistic to aim for that place, Mannila said.