Finland’s mixed doubles relay team took third place at Oslo’s Holmenkollen, led by Suvi Minkkinen and Otto Invenius. This is the best result of the Finnish relay team in 25 years.
In the Biathlon World Cup, a giant bang was seen on Sunday in the mixed doubles relay in Oslo’s Holmenkollen, when Finland’s double sled Suvi Minkkinen and Otto Invenius skied third in the competition.
Norway took the victory over Sweden in a tight stretch to the finish line with a time of 38:43.6.
Finland was even involved in the victory struggle for a long time. Minkkinen sent a message to Invenius on the last leg. Two spare cartridges in the first firing dropped the Invenius Norway Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen and Sweden by Sebastian Samuelsson behind, and in the end the difference to the winner was 31.3 seconds.
– Even in the long term, this is a very hard achievement. Both athletes shot very well and the skiing speed was sufficient. This shows that it is possible for Finland to be in the top positions when everything goes right, Urheilu’s expert Ville Kotikumpu anneal.
The pair relay is a fast and sharp form of competition, where good shooting is emphasized over skiing. The Finnish duo shot well using only six spare cartridges. For comparison, Norway, who won the race, used eight, and Sweden, who came second, used seven.
Fourth-placed Switzerland lost to Finland by 13.2 seconds.
According to Kotikumpu, the importance of the trick is emphasized by the fact that the world’s top names were present. For example, the tough French team had to fight for the victory, but was clearly behind Finland in fifth place.
A rare treat
Sunday’s result is very exceptional in Finnish biathlon.
Finland’s previous podium finish in the Biathlon World Cup was more than four years ago. At that time it was Kaisa Mäkäräinenwho skied in the top three in Oberhof’s joint start in January 2020.
Mari Eder reached the World Cup podium once in 2014 and twice in 2017 when he won the Holmenkollen races. Mäkäräinen collected 27 first places alone. Mäkäräinen collected podium places between 2007 and 2020.
The last time a Finn other than Eder or Mäkäräinen took the podium was in March 2003, when Vesa Hietalahti was second in the normal distance race in Hanty-Mansijski.
Instead, there are no less than 25 years in the posts about the podium place.
The men’s previous podium place is from 1999, when Ville Räikkönen, Vesa Hietalahti, Mikko Uusipäikka and Paavo Puurunen skied third in Ruhpolding.
The previous women’s podium came in the same year when Katja Holanti, Outi Kettunen, Annukka Mallat and Eija Salonen placed third in Lake Placid.
The pair relay was competed for the first time in the World Cup in Nove Mesto in February 2015.