This is how a great Finnish skiing sensation was born – in Norway we are absolutely crazy: “Perttu Hyvärinen crushed them” | Sport

Perttu Hyvärinen the victory in Toblach’s traditional way of skiing went to the head coach Teemu Pasanen too to smile widely.

Hyvärinen, 32, has already come to the attention of the general public almost 15 years ago, when she celebrated the victory of the 10 km freestyle skiing race at the European Youth Olympic Festival. Around the same time, Pasanen also became familiar to Hyvärinen.

– Perttu has been working with me here for 15 years, starting with youth groups. He has been at a good level and succeeded really well in the prestigious competitions for his level, but that World Cup podium has yet to be achieved, Pasanen stated after Sunday’s race.

– Now straight to the win. It must be a big deal for Pertu. I knew that Pertu’s condition would be in the top 10 category when everything worked out. However, the victory was a little surprise.

Hyvärinen, who lives in Kuopio, has been there for years Mikko Virtanen to be coached. The duo has had good successes, including at the Beijing Olympics, when Hyvärinen was sixth in the 15-kilometer traditional skiing competition. Last season in March, he was fifth in the 10 km traditional race in Falun.

This season, however, the results have not been what was desired. Until Toblach shook.

Hyvärinen, who skied his 111th World Cup competition, surprised fellow competitors and experts with his victory.

– We all knew that he is a good skier. He has skied good competitions in the past, but has not yet reached the awards. But yes, this was a small surprise, Norway leading the Tour de Ski after two days Erik Valnes stated to Urheilu.

On Sunday, Valnes finished second, losing to Hyvärinen by 16.2 seconds.

What is happening here?

NRK’s ​​expert Fredrik Aukland instead said it more directly:

– That shouldn’t be possible.

NRK’s ​​second expert Torgeir Björn reminded that the Norwegians had won all nine individual competitions on the men’s side this season. In Saturday’s sprint, no Norwegians made it to the awards.

– And now Perttu Hyvärinen crushed them. This was probably the skiing of his life, Björn beamed.

The two surprised Hyvärinen’s skiing already during the race. “What’s going on here?”, both asked.

Teemu Pasanen said that he believed in Hyvärinen’s victory at his own intermediate point, i.e. at about seven kilometers.

– I already shouted to Pertu that today you are fighting for victory. When then (Harald Östberg) Amundsen and Valnes came there during my break in the fields, so it was pretty much clear. At that point I knew that victory would come, Pasanen mused.

Hyvärinen gave light and strength

For the 32-year-old Hyvärinen, winning the World Cup competition has been a dream for a long time. He has been actively touring the World Cup since the 2014–15 season, although he made his debut as early as 2011.

– It’s not the first time I’m in these circles. Better late than never. This has been a dream for me and the goal for this ski season has been to be on the ball as well. Now it worked.

Hyvärinen’s extreme skiing gave a lot of extra motivation to the skiers of the men’s team, and also Lauri Vuorinen, Arsi Ruuskanen mixed Markus Vuorela succeeded perfectly in Sunday’s race.

Vuorinen skied the best normal distance race of his career by finishing 11th, Ruuskanen, who finished a step lower, had his best result in traditional skiing and Vuorela, who came 16th, had one of the best finishes.

– In the second round, Pasanen first called me a timeout and then that Pera would win. Yes, it gave an additional boost to the long rise, Ruuskanen beamed.

– Koutsi and maintenance got a little excited along the track. They shouted the top, or Pera, to me, and that Pera would win. It gave me extra strength and I was pretty angry at the end, Vuorinen continued.

Only ranked 63rd Joni Mäki also said that he gained strength from Hyvärinen’s skiing, even though he himself was having a hard time.

– It was quite dark after three kilometers. Fortunately, it gave me some light when I heard that Perttu would win. It would shed light on the rest of the journey, Mäki said.

Haste and stress are compatible

Vuorela admitted that before the competition he would not have believed that Hyvärinen would win. The atmosphere in the service truck was hectic and the men were in a hurry for the ski tests. However, Vuorela noted how the experienced ring fox enjoyed the situation.

– Perttu said that he just likes this kind of thing. When you’re in a hurry and a little stress is on. Apparently it suits him when the man is sitting there, Vuorela said and pointed to the teammate sitting on the manager’s chair.

– This is incredibly good for the men’s team. You can see that these guys, with whom you run and train here, can manage. Isn’t this going to be a Finnish Tour!

The Tour de Ski continues on Monday with the 20 kilometer (v) pursuit race. The men’s race starts at 11 a.m., the women’s at 1:30 p.m. follows Tour in this article.