Moldy burger to the face – Why did Krista Pärmäkoski eat fast food before the competition?

Krista Pärmäkoski suffered from stomach problems on Saturday in Norway. Archive photo from last weekend in Kuusamo. Pasi Liesimaa

Krista Pärmäkoski revealed to Viaplay that he ate a hamburger for lunch in Trondheim on Friday, which turned out to be moldy.

– After all, it’s a bit silly and not the best possible nutrition before the competition, says Iltalehti’s skiing expert Pirjo Muranen.

He is a little surprised that there was a hamburger for lunch in Norway on Friday.

– When it comes to an endurance athlete and there is enough energy consumption, a hamburger does not slow you down. When you think about whether a skier can eat a hamburger before the competition, you can, when the whole is under control, Muranen comments on the matter on a general level.

– The most important thing is what’s inside the hamburger. If it is as unripe as possible, it can affect, for example, digestion, the expert adds.

Pärmäkoski, 34, said that the moldy person from Puri caused, among other things, heartburn and breathing challenges in Saturday’s 10+10 kilometer World Cup combined race. The event went wrong, as the Finn was 26th (+1.50,0).

– At what point did you notice that the bread is moldy? It certainly affected the body’s performance in competition.

Muranen doesn’t remember that in his own career, he slipped a Puri in his mouth the day before the start.

– Maybe after the competition, you had a burger when you needed something to eat quickly, Muranen recalls events during his own career.

Message pizzas

In the cross-country skiing world cup, the competition organizers may offer the athletes a small snack at the performance venues, but mainly the national teams are independently responsible for catering.

During competition trips, athletes mainly eat at the lodge. For example, last season at the World Cup in Trondheim, the Finnish team stayed in a large Scandic hotel with buffet meals.

– Sometimes someone might skip the offered meal and go to a place to eat more to themselves, says Muranen.

of Magnar Dalen during the head coaching season 2006–2014, the Finnish women’s relay team went out for pizza on the eve of the relay race.

– Even pizza is not the best possible meal before the competition. Well, not once did our relay fail because of pizza, the 2007 and 2009 relay skiing world champion recalls.

Satisfied women

Along with Pärmäkoski, Muranen names the Finns who competed on Saturday as disappointments Kerttu Niskanen (ranked 19) and Vilma Nissinen (32:s).

– Tiukka now has Nissinen’s Olympic place.

The Finnish winners of the combined event are Johanna Matintalo (fourteenth) and Vilma Ryytty (sixteenth).

– Matintalo’s traditional skiing looked good. He came in the top group to change equipment. I thought that the change to free skiing would be sticky, but it went reasonably well. Johanna could have dropped more.

Matintalo bowed to the winner To Jessie Diggins a minute.

– Ryytty showed that he is worthy of an Olympic place, says the expert.

Born in the USA

Jessie Diggins achieved her 28th World Cup victory when she beat Norway on the last hill of the Trondheim circuit by Heidi Weng and the Swedes on their heels.

– He has always been tough in the combined competition. When Diggins stays in the top fight in the traditional section, I trust that he will always be strong in the open.

The Minnesota native’s ski technique isn’t textbook material either way.

– Shows how fit he is, because skiing is technically not economical.