What happened to Perttu Hyvärinen?

What happened Perttu Hyvärinen32, late on Sunday evening Finnish time in the Cross Country World Cup competition in Canmore, Canada?

Hyvärinen stopped the 20-kilometer traditional joint start race roughly halfway through for no apparent reason.

– There was a bit of a problem with the skis, and it wasn’t going well either. I hope he is not getting sick, says the athlete’s personal trainer Mikko Virtanen.

The Finn was at the tail end of the main group in 34th place, a good 12 seconds from the lead at the 9.3 kilometer intermediate point. Shortly after this, a man with a dizzy face jumped out of the race.

– Probably too low a ski was chosen, Virtanen regretted.

Finland traveled to the end of the nine-hour time difference on Monday of last week. The competition altitude in Canmore is about 1,500 meters above sea level.

– We went there with a rather short preparation, but Friday’s free 15 km race was a success. The whole time we are dealing with the adaptation of the seesaw and the stress of the time difference, so it may be that Pertu’s bad feelings on Sunday are explained by under-recovery.

Sprint interests me

Hyvärinen was supposed to compete on Tuesday in Canmore in the traditional sprint. The event will of course be missed if the athlete is not feeling normal.

– It has been going really well the whole time, as Perttu has been spared from illness and frostbite throughout the competition season. Gotta knock on wood now.

After Tuesday’s sprint in Canmore, the North American World Cup tour is left with the free sprint in Minneapolis, USA on February 17 and the free 10 km time trial a day later. Of these, the latter is naturally the Finn’s main trip behind the rapako.

– A good winter is coming, so you have to be satisfied so far. When there is a new fluoride rule, the ski has a big meaning and there will be a lot of variations. They have to be accepted, Virtanen states.

– The main goal of Pertu’s season is the World Cup, so there has been a lot of skiing. There is no single main event after the Tour de Ski. Now we will compete in the games as long as the condition lasts or the health is preserved, adds the coach.

At the Tour de Ski in Toblach, Hyvärinen won the traditional style 10 km split start at the turn of the year. After that, the three best positions are sixth (Oberhof 20 km traditional mass start), tenth (Canmore free 15 km mass start) and twelfth (Val di Fiemme traditional 15 km mass start).