The combined World Cup season continues this weekend in Oberstdorf, where the World Cup was held three years ago. The last time the World Cup was contested was four weeks ago in Ramsau, Austria.
The absolute splash of color in the early period has made Finnish history Minja Korhonen. The 16-year-old super-promiser finished third in Ramsau and at the same time was responsible for the first ever podium place for Finnish women in the sport’s World Cup.
Korhonen, who has otherwise consistently performed well, is fifth in the overall World Cup race after four races. Above are three Norwegians and one Japanese.
Gyda Westvold Hansen has been completely overwhelming, grabbing all the first places.
Korhonen has raised his level tremendously since last year. Kukkonen asks Finnish sports followers to be patient with the teenage athlete.
– I would hope that he is consistently near the top. Ranks 3–10 are concrete goals. Let the young athlete compete in peace. He has a great future if he doesn’t rush too much. However, anything can be expected of him, Urheilu’s combined expert Petter Kukkonen resemble.
Can you find Hirvonen’s ski line?
from both top men in Finland, Eero from Hirvos mixed From Ilkka Herola fluctuating performances have been seen in the early season.
Hirvonen was brilliant in the opening race in Ruka, finishing third on the hill section. In the skiing section, he was in the top fight with Herola, but in the end was fifth.
Herola, on the other hand, was Fifth before Christmas. The Finns have flashed, but especially with the speed of skiing, there has still been some catching up to do.
Both have been consistently the toughest skiers on the tour in recent years.
– Especially Ilkka has not been at his best last season and at the beginning of this season. He is 20–30 seconds behind his normal skiing speed, says Kukkonen.
Kukkonen sees the decrease in speed as a result of a heavier emphasis on ski jumping. Kukkonen, who works as Hirvonen’s personal coach, says that they made mistakes in training a few years ago, which negatively reflected on the skiing speed.
However, now Hirvonen’s good old skiing skills are being found.
– We switched to the good old model a couple of years ago. At Ruka, he was the fastest in one race. Likewise in Ramsau. The pace can go even higher this season, Kukkonen predicts.
Herola returns to its place of success
Herola has wonderful memories of Oberstdorf. He shot there three years ago with his long, handsome kirtle to the World Cup silver. It is so far his only prize medal.
The profile of the smaller hill suits Herola perfectly. Last year he was sixth and eighth in the World Cup there.
Kukkonen reminds us of a clear trend for Herola.
– Ilkka has generally started to improve his performances as spring approaches. Here’s to really good weekends for him. I expect from Ilka little by little that the results would start to stabilize in the top ten.
Hirvinen’s self-confidence is slowly being found.
– It is better than it has been in past years. There hasn’t been such top jumping in training yet. When he jumps six jumps, so far one of them is one that can do well in the World Cup.
– The most important thing is to maintain the same result level that has been there since the beginning of the season. For the first time in 4-5 years, the athlete senses and understands that he can challenge the best athletes. We don’t have to win yet, but we have to keep this level of results going, Kukkonen adds.
Strong potential
The super promise of Finnish combined Perttu Reponen returns from his long competition break at the weekend in Oberstdorf. Two years ago, the youth World Cup winner competed in the World Cup last time a year ago in Schonach.
It was also his last race that winter. The last time the 21-year-old Reponen competed in the summer GP race in Villach was in September.
Reponen has suffered a lot in recent years with illnesses. Reponen had a good training season after a long time, but fell ill on the eve of the opening of the Ruka World Cup season.
– Nobody knows what to expect from him. It’s been so long since the last international competition. He has been in really good shape throughout the fall. However, the old Mörö came out of the closet, Kukkonen refers to illnesses.
Reponen took time to recover and has trained himself to get in shape. Repose’s potential is considered strong in sports circles.
The athlete, born in 2002, won silver two years ago in the individual competition of the World Junior Championships. He was also on the way to a wonderful team gold.
– Perttu has such potential that you can reach really high. As long as he stays healthy, says Kukkonen.