Planica is an excellent competition venue for Finnish skiers.
One win and seven top ten finishes.
Planica has been a successful competition venue for Finnish skiers in the World Cup. The situation is delicious, because the World Cup medals will soon be skied on the same terrain.
– Planica is very Finnish and Nordic in its terrain type. Very suitable for Finns, Iltalehti expert Reijo Jylhä characterizes.
The cross-country world cup has been contested in Planica in 2016, 2018 and 2019. Among the skiers who participated in the world championships, success has been achieved Krista Pärmäkoski, Kerttu Niskanen, Iivo Niskanen, Cross mat Hakola and Joni Mäki.
Krista Pärmäkoski celebrated winning the ten kilometer race in January 2018. PDO
Pärmäkoski celebrated the victory of the 10 km traditional race in 2018. Kerttu Niskanen was sixth, and Iivo Niskanen finished tenth in the men’s 15 km race.
Pärmäkoski was the 11th in the traditional sprint race that same weekend. Iivo Niskanen was eighth, Hakola in 13th place.
In the following season, Hakola skied with Joni Mäe in the free pair relay for third place. In the sprint, the best Finnish ranking was Mäki’s 13th place.
Why are Planica’s slopes suitable for Finnish skiers?
– For Finns, it is challenging when you are in steep terrains, where you have to run a lot on a traditional bike, and there are demanding and fast descents. There aren’t very many of them in Planica, Jylhä says.
Familiar banas
The slopes of Planica are suitable for Finns. EPA/AOP
From the above-mentioned distances, the traditional sprint and the free pair relay are replaced in World Cup skiing. The women’s 10 and men’s 15 kilometers are raced in the open.
The tracks in the World Cup are pretty much the same as in the World Cup.
– The tracks of the normal distance are practically the same grooves as before. In the World Championships, runs of different sizes are used, when there are many different distances. Not all routes have been skied in the World Cup, the head coach of the national team Teemu Pasanen says.
Pair relay and sprint are skied on the same course. Compared to the previous World Cup, the route of the traditional sprint has been extended so that the uphill portion of the middle point continues a little longer than before.
Pasanen describes the slopes as hard, but gentle.
– There are hard tracks with long working sections. It suits us.
– With the traditional one, you can ski a lot of sliding shift skiing and single kicks. A lot of Wassberg technology is used in freestyle. This suits many of our athletes quite well.
The climbs suit Niskas at least.
– Traditional has a long way to go. There are no steep short climbs on the free, but you can use the Wassberg technique or ski a fast hoe, adds Jylhä.
Medal chances
Teemu Pasanen believes in Finland’s medal chances on many trips. Jussi Saarinen
Finland won two cross-country medals in the previous World Championships. They came from the men’s pair relay and the women’s long relay.
Pasanen does not reveal how many medals he expects from Planica.
– Many trips have a medal opportunity. The traditionally long joint start races are certainly the ones with really good opportunities. So also in the combined race and sprint.
– After the Games, we count how many medals there are.
The World Cup starts on February 22.
THE FACTS
Finland’s top 10 places and the results of the World Cup team in Planica
2016:
– Martti Jylhä was ninth in the free sprint.
– Jylhä skied with Juho Mikkonen in the free pair relay to tenth place.
2018:
– Krista Pärmäkoski won the 10 kilometer traditional race. Kerttu Niskanen was sixth.
– Iivo Niskanen skied tenth in the men’s 15 kilometers and eighth in the traditional sprint.
2019:
– Ristomatti Hakola and Joni Mäki third in the free pair relay.
Source: Fis