Oberhof is a well-known competition venue in biathlon, but the last time the Ski World Cup was held there was more than ten years ago. Sports expert Aino-Kaisa Saarinen directly says that Oberhof’s tracks were not suitable for the top level of cross-country skiing.
– When skiing a joint start, like 20 kilometers on Saturday, or a relay, there are no differences, especially on the men’s side. It was a downright disaster, Saarinen stated.
According to Saarinen, the ups were too short and the downs too steep. In his opinion, the International Ski Federation (FIS) should demand tougher courses from the competition organizers, because there are enough long hills in Central Europe.
– On tracks like Oberhof, even the less fit can succeed. There’s no point in going uphill to fight when you know that you can still catch up with the group at the end.
Who surprised?
Frida Karlsson despite his young age, has already won numerous prestigious medals, but his success so far has come from normal trips. In Oberhof’s traditional skiing sprint, the Swede surprised and skied Linn Svahnin behind in second place. Saarinen was impressed by Karlsson’s performance.
– Frida has made a big leap this season as a sprint skier. She used to be such a thin, petite girl. He has clearly gained strength for skiing and thus speed, said Saarinen.
Before Oberhof, Karlsson had made it to the sprint finals five times, but was left without a prize place. Now he was very active in the final and challenged Svahni well, but the earthling was even stronger.
– It used to be said that Frida wouldn’t be able to cope with the book, but now you can see that she can. He has done a lot of work in that area as well.
Last weekend’s surprise can also be considered an alpine skier Elian Lehto, who landed twice in the Kitzbühel plunge to 11th place. The ranking is the highest ever result of a Finnish man in the World Cup of Ski Jumping.
The Alpine sensation has shown strong performance this season, and it’s only a matter of time before he breaks into the top ten.
– He is an unbelievably tough guy. I thought he would crack the top twenty once this season. The guy has gone forward with a big threat. He has told me all the time that I can be better, Urheilu’s expert Kalle Palander told.
What the hell?
Italian Lisa Vittozzi showed a model of how to work on the shooting bench in the biathlon mixed relay. He shot down the discs faster than others and managed to use one spare cartridge.
– A really fast series is being shot, the camera doesn’t have time to catch up, Johannes Oikarinen was surprised in the commentary and asked Urheilu’s expert Kaisa from Mäkäräinenhow much time passed.
– 23 seconds with a spare cartridge, Mäkäräinen answered.
Italian women’s coach Jonne Kähkönen was not surprised by his protégé’s performance.
– It’s what we’ve already talked about last year and this year: that when it’s a good day and the feeling is good, he doesn’t think too much, but lets go. That time sounds fast, but it’s normal for Lisa, Kähkönen stated.
Who flopped?
Johannes Hösflot Kläbo had to miss the Tour de Ski due to illness and returned to real action at Oberhof. However, the Norwegian was far from his best condition.
– It’s never been seen before, that it’s like this for him in a sprint and a joint start. Even in that type of race where you ski in a group. Yes, the disease has been really violent, that now there was such a flop, Saarinen was amazed.
Kläbo missed out on a place in the sprint finals for the first time since 2018. In the meantime, he had 34 sprint wins, four second places and one third place. He finished 17th in the 20-kilometer traditional cross-country start race, even though the race ended in a massacre.
In Sunday’s relay, Kläbo was the anchor of Norway’s first team, and he won by 0.1 seconds at the end. According to Saarinen, the short distance of 7.5 kilometers and Kläbo’s eye for the game helped in the situation.
– It was quite quiet skiing, so Kläbo didn’t have to squeeze for long. When he still knew what the track was like and where to hit, he went to the front as a brake. Kläbo played the game for himself and was able to save the situation with a tactical eye. However, he is very far from his own basic level.
What next?
The World Cup continues next weekend in Goms, Switzerland. The program includes a mixed relay, free skiing sprints and 20 km free skiing joint start races. Saarinen thinks it will be interesting to see what Johannes Hösflot Kläbo plans to do.
– Will he even be there next weekend? And if so, what kind of condition is he going to be in on such a fast schedule?
Kläbo has already been on the sidelines for so long that he has dropped to fourth in the overall World Cup, nearly 600 points behind the leader Harald Östberg from Amundsen. There are again a lot of points in Goms, so the game is rough.
– If it was a value competition year, it would be better to cheat. But when this year we are competing only in the World Cup and should collect points, it may be that he “has to” start.