Finland is still without medals in World Skiing before Planica. On Tuesday, no medal was expected from the free normal distance, but instead, answers were sought for Thursday’s women’s relay.
Kerttu Niskanen was ninth Eveliina Piippo 16th, Krista Pärmäkoski 17th and Jasmi Joensuu 32:s.
The women’s relay has been considered a very potential medal route in World Skiing. Sports expert Ville Nousiainen according to Finland, there are three athletes in the relay at the “just right” level.
– If Kerttu had been five seconds faster today, he would have been sixth. Then he would have reached his target ranking. Eveliina Piippo was 15 seconds away from the top ten. It would have been a great investment at his level, says Nousiainen.
Nousiainen mentions Krista Pärmäkoski as the third “sure” name. The Finnish skiing star obviously belongs to the relay team, even though his races in Planica have gone to the bottom.
The fourth name of the message team is being searched.
– Jasmi Joensuu didn’t show any miracles. From Johanna Matintalo let’s hope for a very good skiing, but he has also been in a lot of trouble during this season. It is a really challenging situation for the coaching staff to find a fourth skier for the relay, Nousiainen stated.
Another ski expert Kalle Lassilan according to the Finnish coaching staff, now they have to make a decision about the fourth skier with their own eyes and assessment.
– Now there isn’t that much of a result base to make a choice. Jasmi Joensuu has skied all the trips so far. Johanna Matintalo only has a sprint under her belt. I think the situation will turn around for Matintalo. He is a bit fresher to start the message. Matintalo also has a good opening share of the Beitostölen World Cup relay this season, Lassila states.
The third ski expert Aino-Kaisa Saarinen according to Finland is currently a contender in the medal fight.
– There is Sweden, Norway, the United States and Germany. The medal requires that everyone make it to the top. And it also requires the failure of one of these teams above. Just like Sweden flopped in the previous World Cup in Oberstdorf, Saarinen states.
Jasmi Joensuu spoke directly about his situation after Tuesday’s race.
– Everyone can see that it’s not worth putting me on the free trial. At least on tracks like this, Joensuu said and pointed to the last two sections.
– If we went to the plains, it would be a different story. But I was clearly the weakest of our women today.
Piippo, on the other hand, is considered a strong candidate for the free parts and especially the triple part.
– Let’s go fight. Today I got a taste Frida Karlsson farts. I stayed with it in the sprint climb, Piippo said about his setup, referring to Tuesday’s Swedish World Cup silver medalist.
What is Johanna Matintalo’s situation?
Responsible coach for Finnish women Jussi Piirainen says there is currently no news to share about the relay team lineup.
– It will be announced tomorrow evening, then it will become clear to everyone else, Piirainen commented.
Johanna Matintalo wondered about her collapse in last Thursday’s sprint, because according to her own words, she had been in good shape during the competition-like training before the World Championships. Personal trainer Ville Oksanen reflected after the sprint that rest could be a better solution for Matintalo than training.
How have the last few days been for Johanna?
– Very well, Piirainen acknowledged the question.
The belief in success has not waned in Piirainen’s eyes either.
– I believe that the striking ability will be tough on relay day. Here’s a couple of days. Let’s start fighting in tough places, Piirainen stated.
After the poor results at the World Championships in Planica, there has been a lot of talk about, among other things, the calculation skills of Finns. Piirainen didn’t start speculating about it after the freestyle skiing race, because he hadn’t had time to analyze all the events of the race yet.
– I can’t say exactly. There was no fatigue in Kertu’s skiing. It was a hard hit. You have to know how to ski the whole way, Piirainen stated.
The women’s relay will be skied on Thursday 2.3. at 1:30 p.m. Live broadcast on TV2, Areena and the app. See the schedule of the World Cup at this link.
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