On Friday, at the World Championships in Nordic skiing, the men’s ski relay at 1:30 p.m. and the men’s suurmäki hill race at 6:30 p.m. Live broadcasts on ‘s channels.
What are we talking about?
The small number of spectators at the Planica World Ski Championships is almost as common a daily topic as the crashes in the early days of the Games. The World Cup competitions have attracted a surprisingly small audience – so little, in fact, that the race organizers announced on Thursday that residents of neighboring Kranjska Gora will receive a free ticket to the World Cup if they wish.
– Hopefully it will even bring more people to the stands, Sporten’s expert Matias Strandvall stated.
– That’s probably the only way to get people and atmosphere for the weekend, Urheilu’s expert Ville Nousiainen continued.
On the day of the women’s relay, there was a lot of space in the main grandstand, and neither the announcer nor the DJ who were busy in the stadium could keep the atmosphere high throughout the event.
According to experts, the greed of the race organizers has driven away spectators, because the ticket prices are too high for the locals. According to Strandvall, even those who are interested in Nordic skiing have not come all the way to the stadium.
Nousiainen reminded that in the beginning of the Games, for example on the pair sprint day, the audience found the stadium well, but since then the situation has changed.
– And then when there is a longer race like that, the crowd spreads over a wider area. Then there must be a lot of that crowd to show that there are people there, Nousiainen said.
Who surprised?
There were big question marks hanging over the Finnish women’s relay team. The skier of the opening stage Johanna Matintalo got hurt badly at the World Cup in Toblach, and the World Cup did not start as desired. Also Kerttu Niskanen the condition of the leg caused uncertainty.
According to Matias Strandvall, Matintalo was thought to be the weakest link in the Finnish team, but he got a clean sheet for his part. Ville Nousiainen also had the same opinion.
– Let’s say that I was hoping for such an opening. And the Finnish team didn’t really have any so-called mistakes, Nousiainen stated.
– Everyone skis at their own level and with their own limiter all the time. There was just nothing else to do.
According to Nousiainen, Finland would have had a small gap for medals if Germany and Sweden had been in a different order. If Krista Pärmäkoski would have been able to chase on the anchor section Victoria Carlia Maja Dahlqvist instead, the situation could have turned in Finland’s favor.
– Dahlqvist’s reasonableness and competence in the final game is a pretty impossible position for anyone, Nousiainen said.
In addition to Finland, Matias Strandvall wants to surprise Norway’s third stage skier Ingvild Flugstad Östberg. Östberg had to take a 1.5-year break from the World Cup due to health problems, but in Planica he won the World Cup gold for Norway with his breakaway.
Who flopped?
Sweden went into the women’s relay as the biggest champion favorite, but had to settle for bronze medals. After the race, the Swedish camp was boiling and the team had to hold a crisis meeting.
– Emma Ribom and Maja Dahlqvist took care of their plots, but also Ebba Andersson that Frida Karlsson flopped. That is, the team’s strongest skiers, Matias Strandvall said.
In Nousiainen’s opinion, Karlsson could not match Norway’s Ingvild Flugstad Östberg or Germany at any level Pia Finkin up to speed.
– That was the end of the message for Sweden, Nousiainen said.
In the USA, the skiers of the first and last leg were a mystery, and right from the start of the relay it was clear that there was no Hailey Swirbul keep up with others. When the maintenance had failed, Swirbul had to grind through the entire run. Anchor Julia Kern free was not strong enough for Planica’s WC terrains.
– Jessie Diggins had to start from the chasing position on the third leg and had to ski at an extremely high speed at the start. It backfired, Nousiainen said.
What next?
It has already been 14 years since the Finnish men’s relay medal. The team is not a medal favorite this time either, but there are medal opportunities.
– However, they are thin, you can’t get anywhere. A top five would be a good performance, Matias Strandvall said.
Finland’s communication foursome Cross mat Hakola, Iivo Niskanen, Perttu Hyvärinen and Niko Anttola was no surprise to the experts. According to Ville Nousiainen, Norway and France are ahead of Finland in advance, Sweden is also strong, but there are question marks in the team.
– Sweden and partly Germany are in the thick of it, but there are such unpredictable teams, such as Italy for example. If Iivo Niskanen is in top shape, Finland has the edge to strike against Sweden, Nousiainen said.
– The medal is not something that is completely out of the blue for this team, but it requires bad luck from Sweden and complete success from Finland.
Strandvall would have liked to see the courage of the former head coach from the Finnish coaching staff Magnar Dale offered at his first World Championships in Sapporo. That’s when the Finnish women started the relay, so to speak, head-first, and it resulted in the championship.
– Iivo could have pulled the whole group to pieces right away. I think it would have been Finland’s only chance, Strandvall said.