World Championship gold and falling – Mika Venäläinen was worried

Swedish Ebba Andersson won the women’s 7.5+7.5 km world championship on Saturday despite falling. She is the first Swedish woman to win the World Championship gold in the combined event.

Andersson went wrong about five kilometers before the finish line, but took the gold with a 22-second gap to his compatriot to Frida Karlsson. Finnish maintenance manager Mika Venäläinen realized that the situation could have been worse.

– If Andersson had fallen a little earlier, in the worst case, he would have cut the advertising fence on the head, Venäläinen said.

Andersson was surprised to hear about the Russian’s concern.

– Oh. I didn’t notice it at all!

– I focused on getting up as quickly as possible. I was most surprised that Frida was not attached to my back. If you fall, you can lose a lot of time.

Andersson does not consider Planica’s track to be dangerous.

– No. When I crashed, I wasn’t paying enough attention coming into the corner. It wasn’t because of the track.

For the first time in her career, the Swedish star won the gold medal in a personal journey.

Surprised by the fall

Karlsson and Andersson came to exchange skis at the same time. Andersson, who won the last three normal distance races of the World Cup, had practiced changing skis beforehand.

The execution went smoothly, and Andersson ran away. The gap to Karlsson was more than six seconds in a kilometer.

– When you switch from traditional to freestyle skiing, the muscle groups used change. It can be seen in skiing. That doesn’t work for Ebba. It was a good night, Karlsson laughed after the race.

– He didn’t feel the same as I did. I noticed that he is strong in the race.

Karlsson heard Andersson during the breaks in the free section. The difference naturally narrowed after the top woman fell.

– I thought I was in a cheerful mood, but then I heard that he had fallen.

Karlsson described the World Cup silver as a medal won. The Swede celebrated his Tour de Ski victory at the beginning of January, but fell ill and had to miss training.

The mood at the training camp was still gloomy.

– I meant to go home from the training camp. The sun made me stay. I started to believe in myself in the last days before the World Cup.

In the last days before the opening of the World Cup, Karlsson has found his condition. He is looking forward to the continuation of the Games.

– It’s great that the races are long.