What happened to Riitta-Liisa Ropose? “It was confusing”

Age 45, international top career in package 2022 and two Fis competitions last season.

Still Riitta-Liisa Roponen came and won all the Finnish women Kerttu from Niskas and Krista from Pärmäkoski starting on Sunday in the 10-kilometer freestyle intermediate start competition of the Olos Cannon Games.

– Riitta-Liisa fooled me the most. In my opinion, he has not fully invested in success in the World Cup, and he has not had the goal of being the best Finn. The time difference to the other Finns was so big that it was confusing when he was so good. “Ritu” skied relatively hard for her level, even compared to the Germans, commented Iltalehti’s skiing expert Reijo Jylhä.

Tool play means a lot in skiing. The use of prohibited fluoride was not controlled at Olos.

– It is also unclear who skied with which skis and with which creams. On the other hand, Sunday’s dry frosty weather in Muonio was one where fluoride is least useful.

Based on the TV pictures, for example, Pärmäkoski was not on the move with his best skis in freezing weather. Ropose could have the number one equipment below.

– On Sunday, there were significant differences in the glide of the skis between the athletes. Skis are very important when the weather is dry and freezing. There are very few skis that are really good in that weather. Finland’s best have not skied with top pairs in Olos before.

A big difference

The difference between Roponen and Pärmäkoski and Niska was 14 seconds.

– I’m sure that Kertu and Krista’s pace will improve. Now their performance is not good. But it doesn’t have to be, because the best in Finland don’t have to fight for places in the World Cup.

The freestyle 10 km intermediate start race of the Olos Cannon Games on Sunday was a check-up race for the Finns for the corresponding start at the Ruka World Cup two weeks later.

– Of course, Riitta-Liisa must be chosen for Ruka if she has an interest in competing. There’s no point in going unpicked when he was this superior. Whether he skis in Ruka in the national team group or in the national quota is not relevant, Jylhä says.

Iltalehti could not reach Riitta-Liisa Ropo on Sunday during the day.

Niskanen withdrew

Iivo Niskanen unexpectedly withdrew from the 10-kilometer intermediate start race of the Olos Cannon Games freestyle on Sunday.

Even on Saturday, the Savo host assured in a stadium interview that he will also compete as a saint in Muonio.

According to information from the Olos fell, the three-time Olympic champion missed the race due to frost. The mercury was between minus four and minus eleven degrees at different points of the five-kilometer course, those who followed the race along the course reported to Iltalehti.

– When Iivo starts to be in shape, he competes very moderately. I would have even wondered if he had competed on Sunday. On Saturday, the traditional 10 in Olos showed that Iivo is fine, and he doesn’t need the games, Jylhä, who coached the national team from 2014–18 in Niska, estimates.

– The risk of getting sick increases in that situation, so it was a justified decision to miss the race, the expert adds.

Über alles

Like last season’s Artillery Games, the German national team was particularly successful.

Katharina Hennig won the women’s traditional ten on Saturday, Victoria Carl on Sunday, free ten and Friedrich Moch Sunday men’s free ten.

The Germans, who have held a training camp in Muonio for years in November, tend to spend more time on the Olos hill in their competition than training uniforms.

– Endurance training can be done in different ways. Finns train differently than Germans. Since the 1980s, the main emphasis of our philosophy has been on aerobic training and the amount of training. It can be seen in Olos’ results when comparing Finns and Germans.

After the success of Olos last season, the Germans’ personal success bubble burst. Only Hennig was able to fight for individual top positions in the World Cup with traditional.

– Hennig is still strong, but I would also raise Mochi as a potential success in the World Cup. He is a year older and already had the potential to get on the podium last November.

Although German skiing does not by Tobias Angerer, by René Sommerfeldt, by Axel Teichmann, Evi Sachenbacher-Stehlen and after partners there have been individual super names, in team competitions the country has been particularly successful in the 2010s and 2020s. For example, last season at the World Championships in Planica, the women won silver in the relay and the men won bronze.

– They don’t quite have peaks, but they also don’t have weak links in the relay groups. They are equal teams, Jylhä says.

The ex-head coach gives special recognition to the German service team.

– Germany has always been successful in maintenance, when the lubrication and ski selections have been done right. The German team is perhaps the most consistent of all. A strong team performance in, for example, the Beijing Olympic Games required that the maintenance was excellent, Jylhä estimated.

– I’m not saying that the message’s success depends on maintenance alone, but it is a significant factor, he adds.