Krista Pärmäkoski bursts out: “Finland’s hottest single skier”

Krista Pärmäkoskea laughs when she is described as “Finland’s hottest single skier”. Inka Soveri

Cross-country skier Krista Pärmäkoski and sports coach Tommi Pärmäkoski was sentenced to divorce in April 2025. The relationship had already ended in the summer of 2024.

After the divorce, the skier kept her ex-husband’s last name.

– It was the life of that time and a part of me. I have created my own brand with that last name, Krista Pärmäkoski describes.

By his “own brand”, he means, among other things, his KP headwear collection.

– I don’t have much time left in my career, so we’ll see what last name I end up with.

He is related to Lähteenmäki. The skier used the name until August 2014, when the family name changed to Pärmäkoski after marriage.

Finland’s most famous

Krista Pärmäkoski is Finland’s best-known female athlete, if the issue is judged by the number of Google search results.

According to an analysis by digital agency Wuohi Digital, a skier’s name is googled an average of 53,100 times a month.

– Oh, Pärmäkoski stutters when he hears about it.

Finland’s most Googled athlete worldwide is a car driver Valtteri Bottas with an average of 265,200 searches per month. The second is a basketball player Lauri Markkanen (223,800 searches per month) and third is a hockey player Patrick Laine (207,700).

The skier is number seven on the list, and among the other female athletes, the pole vaulter in number ten slipped into the top ten Wilma Murto (44,400).

– One media called me the hottest single skier in Finland. When you’re the hottest single skier in Finland, Google must have sung and Googlers see great snot-on-the-cheek pictures, Pärmäkoski jokes.

In a detached house

After the divorce, the skier stayed to live in a 180-square-meter log house in Kuortane, completed at the end of 2021. There is a sauna cabin of approximately 30 square meters in the courtyard area.

– It was quite a lot of work when you had to keep the detached house up alone in the summer. I have enjoyed myself in Kuortane. It’s quite peaceful there.

The athlete, who turns 35 in December, has described his house as a “dream house” and “an investment place for the rest of his life”.

– If you want a spouse somewhere, there aren’t many jobs available in Kuortane. So you have to be realistic when talking about home. At the moment, my home is in Kuortane.

In South Ostrobothnia, Nova Scotia retrievers also enjoy themselves Edwin.

– Mussukka sleeps in my bed and leaves a pile of hair there.

To continue or not?

Next February, Pärmäkoski will compete in the Olympic Games for the fifth time in his career in Italy. Only Finnish skiers have been to different Olympics more often Harri Kirvesniemi and Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi. Their task of six Olympic appearances was made easier when the Albertville and Lillehammer games were held every two years from 1992 to 1994.

– The excitement of the competition, and all the emotions in general, are the best in this profession. You don’t experience something similar in any other job. When things go well, you are super happy, and correspondingly, sometimes you cry in your throat, Pärmäkoski reflects.

– In addition, I like a nice work community and moving around in nature. My future job is unlikely to be such that I get to move in nature, so this professional skiing is a privileged profession, he adds.

In the summer of 2024, the Ikaalist coach said that he would continue his rewarding career at least until the end of the 2025–26 season.

– In good times I want to continue and in bad times I think about nailing my skis. During this winter I will make a decision about the continuation.

The basic training period 2025 mainly offered good moments.

– I was healthy all summer and did all the planned exercises.

Pärmäkoski has said that he suffered from panic attacks and mental challenges earlier this decade.

– It’s going really well now.