The flu struck after the opening stage of the Tour de Ski.
Cross mat Hakola34, said on Sunday in Toblach after a stage of the Tour de Ski that “not all the mummies are in the valley”.
He meant that the vibe felt strange.
Pretty soon after qualifying for Sunday’s free sprint, the skier’s condition deteriorated. The fever rose on Holy Night, and during the night before Monday, the whooping cough struck.
– Now we have to blow the game over, commented Hakola.
The corona test done by Kauniainen at the cottage was negative.
– No medication is on, he says.
On Monday morning, the athlete announced that the Tour de Ski will be cancelled.
– The flu has been on for a long time. The World Cup in Davos went to shit and the opening pin of the Tour went to shit.
At the World Cup in Switzerland, Hakola only competed in the free pair relay on December 12.
– After Davos, some kind of fever came. I’ve tried to fix that, but it went a bit wrong.
The skier spent Christmas at home in Davos. Still, the disease took its toll.
– At this level, there are so many more disappointments than successes. These are used to.
Career over?
Ristomatti Hakola stopped the Tour de Ski. Jussi Saarinen
Hakola announced at the time of last season’s World Cup that his career would end after the 2025–26 season. He retracted his words in November 2025, when the summer basic training period had gone without a problem. The athlete estimates that the situation regarding career continuation is fifty-sixty.
A recent health problem resets the percentages.
– Again, my mind turns in the direction that I will quit after this season. But I haven’t made a decision.
On Monday, Hakola traveled from Toblach by car to Munich Airport and continued from there along the air bridge to Helsinki-Vantaa.
Only once to finish
Hakola did not make it to the top 30 heats in the 1/6 free sprint on the Tour’s stage. Jussi Saarinen
The man from Jämin Jänte has not yet been selected for the Finnish Olympic team, but he will probably be part of the seven-man skiing team.
– We don’t know about the Olympic place yet. It would be nice if you could get in shape by then. Well, there is still time to be in both good and bad shape before the Olympics.
In his career, Hakola has skied to the finish of the Tour de Ski only once. In the 2015–16 season, he was 44th in the final results. In the 2017–18 and 18–19 seasons, the Tour was left unfinished, just like this season.
– For the first time in my life, the Tour would have been perfect for me, the Finn says, referring to the exceptionally short tour.
Distances suitable for Hakola’s pirta would have been, for example, Monday’s traditional ten-kilometer race with an intermediate start and Thursday’s traditional 20-kilometer pursuit.
– It’s sad that I didn’t get to grind on traditions. Pertsa has recently had a hard ride in Ruka – and I would have needed that now, the skier commented.
– Well, there’s no help but to turn this sled around, he adds.