The hill races of the Ruka World Cup are held in the mornings from 10:00 a.m. due to TV channels.
The hill races of the Ruka World Cup are jumped in the morning from 10:00. Pasi Liesimaa/IL
The World Cup hill race in Ruka next Saturday starts at 10:00 a.m., i.e. at 09:00 a.m. Central European time.
On Sunday 27 November 2022, the Ruka suurmäki qualifying starts at 08:30 and the competition an hour and a half later.
What’s up, competition manager Jukka Tahkola?
– Lack of television time, answers Tahkola.
– The World Cup in football takes up the evening broadcast times of TV channels. Together with the international skiing federation FIS, we decided that the hill races will be moved to the morning, when international TV time is available, he continues.
The audience goal for the Ruka World Cup is 20,000 spectators this year as well. The majority of fans only go to Koillismaa for skiing competitions. At best, a couple of thousand pairs of eyes have ended up on the hill in recent years.
Is it now the case that hill races are jumped on empty stands?
– Yes, skiing has been a popular sport for us. It could be that people can’t bring themselves to come to the hill in the morning, Tahkola states.
– On the other hand, in previous years, we have had an unnecessarily large gap between the ski races and the hill race. Some people have left when they didn’t bother to wait. Now, on top of the hill races, there is the skiing world cup, so if this would attract the public to the hill climb, Tahkola would appreciate it.