Will Iivo Niskanen celebrate the World Cup medal with an Olympic photographer? Lauri Vuorinen admits a tickling view | Sport

Lauri Vuorinen defeated Federico Pellegrino in Olos and took a stand on the World Cup medal speculations.

Iivo Niskanen outlined on Thursday before the start of the season in Olos the goal for this season: a medal in February-March at the World Championships in Trondheim, Norway, in three days straight: in 10 kilometers in the traditional intermediate start race, in the pair sprint in the traditional way of skiing and also in the relay race.

If the WC pair sprint team was selected now, Iivo would ski with Niskanen Lauri Vuorinen.

Vuorinen was second in Olos on Friday in the sprint of traditional skiing. He defeated one of the world’s best sprint skiers, Italy, in the final stretch Federico Pellegrinobut Norwegian Eric Valnes was too much this time.

Urheilu met Vuorinen after the competition. He admitted that before the season he also invested a lot in the traditional way of skiing because of the pair sprint, even though the individual WC sprint is skied in free.

– Traditional is my strength. You don’t compromise it because of the free skiing style. The pair sprint is just as important and the main distance there as the free sprint. Actually, a much more realistic medal distance than the free sprint, Vuorinen admitted.

Vuorinen had an interesting summer job, as he worked as a photographer for the Finnish team at the Paris Olympics for three weeks.

He left Paris straight to Trondheim for roller skiing competitions. He was fourth in the Toppidrettsvekan sprint race. For example, the Norwegian superstar was left behind John Hösflot Kläbo.

Vuorinen had time to do one hard training session before the race. It felt bad, because Vuorinen had naturally not been on roller skis for a while.

– I got back to the training rhythm pretty quickly. I had trained quite a lot before Paris. I noticed that the couple of weeks in Paris did not reduce my fitness, says Vuorinen.

It made him smile after Friday’s race that “it was still quite good to get past” Pellegrino.

– It was a really good race today. A challenging situation. One track was practically open. I went cross-country skiing. I saved the whole finale for the end. I thought one stroke was available via dead end. It worked then, says Vuorinen.

All in all, there were four Finnish men at the starting line in the final against Valnes and Pellegrino. The last of them remained Niilo Moilanen. He had a hard time in July when he got into a roller-skiing accident with a cyclist.

There were several fractures to the face and jaw area, but the helmet protected against the most serious injuries. The only memory of the accident is a scar on the chin.

– He has recovered well. Must be satisfied. A little street cred, a little dent in the chin. Not bad, no harm, Moilanen described to Urheilu.

Jasmi Joensuu from panic to victory

Jasmine Joensuu was the Finnish winner of the day. She left the Germans behind in the women’s sprint final Laura Gimmler’s and Coletta Rydzek too.

Joensuu’s winning tactic in the Olos snowfall was an old grip sole ski.

– We dug it 28 minutes before the quarter-final. Three maintenance men quickly put it in race condition. St. John’s wort Taypaletta I have to thank you for keeping a cool head. There was a bit of a panic. All other skis froze. I told Kuisma to take the old traction sole. I like to ski with it, Joensuu explained to Urheilu.

In qualifying, Joensuu was not yet the best Finn, but Amanda Island ahead of your wedge.

– In qualifying, there was a small skirmish (with skis) when it started to snow. It was sad because I knew I was in much better shape, Joensuu said.

Joensuu has been able to prepare for the WC season without major setbacks. It has given the athlete credit and peace of mind.

According to Joensuu, the first podium place of his career in the World Cup is possible in the coming season, if he only succeeds in four skis in a row on the sprint day.

He doesn’t mind that the WC sprint is contested in freestyle skiing.

– I like free time even more. Not being so at the mercy of circumstances. I’m probably better at traditional, but I think free skiing is nice.