Arsi Ruuskanen hurt his leg so badly in combined skiing that he was rushed to the hospital. According to Petter Northug, this should not happen.
Planica
Soft and the sometimes dangerous track raised concerns in the men’s combined skiing on Friday.
Arsi Ruuskanen fell due to high speed right in the opening lap, hurt his leg and had to be hospitalized. The track was really bumpy at the tipping point.
Finns too Perttu Hyvärinen fell down. Athletes from other countries were drawn to their roofs by the smell of the competition.
To the 22nd place with side cars Remi Lindholm experiences tell everything about the circus that prevailed on the track.
“Quite a few times I wanted to throw a tantrum when someone fell in front of me. There were loose skis and half poles in the downhills. They had to be avoided. On the skate section, a Swiss guy fell in front of me and I had to jump over him,” Lindholm said.
He described the condition of the track as “bad”.
“Fortunately, the track profile was hard enough, so the softness didn’t affect the performance too much. It was muddy, but fortunately we were able to improve the positions on the uphill.”
Bending the poor condition was helped by the fact that the organizers did not salt the track at all. Salt hardens the surface of the ski track.
Norwegian skiing legend Petter Northug said that he guessed as soon as he heard about the salt-free decision that the competition would be tough.
“The lowlands should have been salted. Now it’s dangerous when the snow is soft slush and ice is exposed from under it. It can be very difficult to control the instrument.”
Northug, who works as an expert for Norway’s TV2 in Planica, was sorry for Ruuskanen’s fate.
“It’s not a good thing at all. This should not happen at the World Championships, that’s for sure. It was really difficult in the lowlands, you could see it in many places. The situation will become even more critical if this starts to happen on other race days as well,” he concluded.
The competition beat Norway Simen Hegstad Krüger before his countrymen Johannes Høsflot Klæboa and Sjur Røthe. Hyvärinen was tenth as the best Finn.
Ruuskanen was taken from the competition site to the hospital, where his leg will be X-rayed. The Ski Federation has not informed about the health of the skier after the race.
Read more: Arsi Ruuskanen had a bad fall in the World Cup – he crashed into a post of an advertising fence
Read more: Heavy fines for Perttu Hyvärinen – Ski boss: “Nothing to explain”
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