Santtu Silvennoinen
The Finn’s skiing speed has accelerated radically. The biathlon skier told Yle last season that he competes four kilograms lighter than the previous year, writes Santtu Silvennoinen.
Suvi Minkkinen is in the shock of her life. EPA / AOP
Norwegian Erik Kulstad put his words very precisely in December 2022 at the Kontiolahti Biathlon Stadium, when the yellow-beaked head coach, who started at the helm of Finland the previous spring, analyzed his team’s athletes.
– Suvi Minkkinen is a great shooter, one of the best in the world, he began.
In his career, the Finn has knocked down boards in the World Cup with an average of about 90 percent. Last season’s hit percentage was 91, when 520 of 572 shots hit the goal.
Hitting accuracy has been the mainstay of the Finnish biathlon career, but another important aspect has been declining for a long time.
– There may be some work to be done in the skiing speed, Kulstad said with his tongue in the middle of his mouth.
In the last snow, Minkkinen was like a different woman compared to the previous ride. The public talked about the high-altitude training that had gone to a button and the more efficient uphill skiing technique than before.
Both are very valid considerations, until Yleisradio’s reporter took up a rather quiet topic in sports circles at the Taivalkoski SC skiing last season.
– I competed about four kilos lighter than the previous season. After all, extreme endurance sports are easier then and muscle endurance is better, Minkkinen stated in an interview with the state media house.
Of course, weight loss is not a shortcut to happiness, but a controlled operation carried out according to the instructions of professionals may help the athlete significantly.
On Friday, in the sprint race of the Östersund World Cup, Minkkinen was as much as third fastest in the cross-country races.
Krista Pärmäkoski, who told Iltalehte in 2021 that she will compete in the 2022 Chinese Olympic Games at 57 kg, has spoken publicly about Finnish skiers before Minkki. It was two kilos less than the previous season.
– In elite sports, the body is a tool whose performance is optimized. I don’t think the topic should be any kind of taboo, but the speech around it should be civilized and knowledgeableMinkkinen commented to Yleisradio.
Head coach Erik Kulstad’s contract with the Biathlon Union is terminated after this season. PDO
The Norwegian Kulstad has been a real golden finger at the helm of Finland, even though the man’s coaching methods are not rocket science.
– Different training and approach to shooting range work. A pedantic guy who demands a lot from athletes. It’s really good. The previous head coach Jonne Kähkönen put things in a better direction, and Kulstad has taken the operation to the next level. We are more professional than ever, said Olli Hiidensalo, last season’s World Cup runner-up three years ago.
It would be a small miracle if the Biathlon Union could extend the Norwegian family man’s deal after this season.
Perhaps a more important paper than Kulstad’s extension contract is on the table of the Finnish grease booth. Maintenance manager Marek Sander and his team have brilliantly operated the giants of the sport with significantly lighter resources. Especially last season at the World Championships in Lenzerheide, the poppoo of the Estonian fat knapsack tuned Minkkinen “for sure the best skis in the world“.
Estonian equipment expert Marek Sander works as the maintenance manager of the Finnish biathlon team. Santtu Silvennoinen
