The Finnish medalist had a disgusting dive spiral: “I died”

A two-time medalist of the competition Joni Mäen, 28, career slipping in a steep downhill. To put it bluntly, we can say that he has been half as bad in the last year and a half as in the 2020–22 seasons.

– I can’t stand acid at the moment. I totally died. It was a performance according to the current condition. It’s not enough to do better than that, Mäki said on Wednesday evening in Davos, when he finished 23rd in the free sprint on stage 4/7 of the Tour de Ski.

The result corresponds almost exactly to the Finn’s average ranking in international sprints this and last season: it is 22nd.

In the silver season of the pair relay of the Beijing Olympic Games 2022 and the silver season of the World Cup in Oberstdorf 2021, the average rankings were 11 and 12.

– After the corona that came in October, there have been difficulties. Training was really difficult after that, and I didn’t really feel good in the games either, commented the skier.

– Last season was also more or less spent sick. This season has been relatively intact without counting a single crown, so I expected the sled to turn, he adds.

The bottom collapsed

Born in 1995, the skier from Vaasa has been talking about domestic skiing circles throughout his career: a great junior talent, who has been expected to reach the top internationally.

In 2014, as a “minor”, he won the junior WC bronze in the free sprint.

– Jon was always criticized when he trained at a high pace and got sick easily. On the other hand, it was thought to be a good thing when he dared to challenge himself and do things boldly, says Iltalehti’s skiing expert Reijo Jylhä.

Mäki is currently the athlete most susceptible to illness in Finland’s cross country team. When the neighbor sneezes at him, Mäki gets a cold.

– Possibly the training base has not been good enough, because his aerobic side collapses easily, Jylhä analysed.

– When the aerobic side collapses, performance and recovery are not sufficient, he adds.

Jylhä describes Mäke as a performance skier who can momentarily produce “unimaginably strong speed”.

– He is very dependent on his performance. If Joni is not at the top of the sprint qualifying, there is no way to make it in the heats. The machine is not enough.

The expert sees a lot in Mäe as he does in his son Martti in Jylhä.

– If Martti was among the six in the time trial, he fought for a place in the semi-finals. If he was ranked 20–30, there was no chance.

When you look at the results, the corresponding assessment fits well with Mäke.

Did you eat lunch?

After last season, the skier changed his training in order to be more successful in the 10 km race.

In retrospect, the change was bad because the core competence area, maximum speed, has disappeared.

Juho Halonenwhose lunches are considered by many to have been eaten, still continues as a personal coach.

– We have a long cooperation with Juho. I felt that there was no need for changes, says Mäki.

Jylhä doubts that Mäe has a chance to succeed this season.

– It is very difficult to turn the sled from those bottoms, at least by competing. Is there a possibility that even by changing the training you would get results? I hope I’m wrong, but it’s not an easy thing, says the expert.

Have the best skis of the man who took the podium once in his mc career and finished fourth in the Olympic Games, been skied?

– I have seen what a talented guy he is. Now we should go back to our roots and do the things that are good. He can still ski sprint at world level: the talent is not lost, and at 28, he is not too old.