The cross-country season has been exceptionally confusing. The women's national team coach has faced corona, changing weather conditions and the surprises of the fluoride ban.
Finnish women head coach of the cross country team Ville Maunuksela has faced a lot of harsh surprises in his first season.
The training had to be adjusted to budget discipline right away. Corona infections piled up at the beginning of the competition season, and the ban on fluoride creams has since mixed things up in exceptionally variable weather conditions.
Kerttu Niskanen third and Krista Pärmäkoski seventh place at the Tour de Ski, Jasmi to Joensuu development in the sprint and good team performances in the Ruka and Trondheim sprints have been highlights of the early season.
There has been some snow in the house. Maunuksela is the first to respond with laughter when the conversation turns to the effects of the fluoride ban and the exceptionally variable conditions at, for example, the Tour de Ski.
“Itselle Tour was the first live. Previously, I have only followed through TV. The head coach Teemu Pasanen and according to the maintenance men, the conditions of the tour have never been as varied as now,” says Maunuksela.
“It really kept the maintenance men busy when they had to think of new things every day [eli voiteiden yhdistelmiä]”.
The result was complete maintenance failures, crashes and “catastrophes”, which were often caused by the brand of skis and not by lubrication or ski grinding.
Before this through fluoride creams, it was possible to even out the differences between the skis in different conditions. Now the differences between the skis are at worst shocking with the same “täll”.
“If the difference on a certain distance used to be 15 seconds, now even a minute is nothing. The differences are huge”, Maunuksela testifies.
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There hasn't been much time or thought for those who are not at the competition. In the future, we need to develop communication with those who are not on the trip.
The races are confusing to watch, when the skiers of two ski brands have dominated the races in freezing weather and the other two brands shine in sheltered weather.
At the same time, the skiers comment on their competition and equipment in opposite moods. With the same lubrication, some skis slide, others don't.
The maintenance of the US team has stood out from the rest with its consistency, and by no means by accident. The full fluoride ban on ski creams is already in effect for the third time at the US national level.
“The Americans have received test information from home. Because of that, they are pioneers. They may also have used creams that were not available here,” explains Maunuksela.
Ville Maunuksela is in his first season as the responsible coach of the national team.
In Maunuskela's opinion, Finnish maintenance has developed by leaps and bounds, although the end of the season can be unpredictable until the end when the weather changes.
“In the beginning, there was an application. Now it seems that we are getting better and better on the map of fluoride-free creams. We have gotten better and better at getting into the game.”
Maunuksela tells enthusiastically about the experiences of the first national team season. In competitions, he has had the opportunity to observe Finnish skiers alongside the world's best on different tracks, in different terrain and under different conditions.
“It's a great gift to be able to see live the race speed of the world's top players. The idea becomes clearer when you see where the strengths of each skier are and where there is room for improvement,” Maunuksela praises the experience.
“You can see live what the requirement level is at each point of the track. It also gives a better idea of where we are going as a team.”
The practice has also trained the coach for a new task, when the rhythm of the competition season turned out to be surprisingly intense.
“The competition weeks are really intense. Let's get back from the trip, let's sigh for a moment, and Wednesday is already the start of the next competitions. The rest of the week is spent in the competition bubble from morning to night”, Maunuksela describes the everyday life of the national team.
The coaches' responsibilities are not limited to the competition location, as part of the team always stays in their home country to train.
“There hasn't been much time or thought for those who are not at the competition venue. In the future, we need to develop communication with those who are not on the trip.”
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Competition weeks are really intense. Let's get back from the trip, let's sigh for a moment, and Wednesday is already the start of the next competitions.
Finland has it the quota of six female skiers in the World Cup. Ideally, the six best skiers in each sport would be sent to the Games, but the budget can't even support six sprinters and six normal distance skiers.
For example, Finland's fourth best cross-country skier may stay at home.
“It is not an ideal situation, and we have had to discuss it with the athletes,” Maunuksela reveals.
“It has still felt that the choices have been clear and consistent. Reasons have been found for the choices.”
Maunuksela states that it is an inevitable fact that an athlete who is not selected can experience the situation differently.
Kerttu Niskanen finished third overall in the Tour de Ski.
Tour de Ski was th
e main goal of the top skiers this year. Kerttu Niskanen will continue the World Cup from seventh place, but others are able to aim for the rest of the season mainly for success in individual competitions.
Next season, the skiers aim for success at the World Championships in Trondheim.
“During last summer's training season, we focused on basic training, developing endurance and other basic qualities. In the next training season, we can do specific and special exercises for the World Championships, when the World Championships tracks are known”, says Maunuksela.
For sprint skiers, speed training will be emphasized in the future, which aims to sharpen the solutions of the final straight.
“The sprint skiers have been able to get good places in the heats, but there have been few further places. Too often we have been stuck in 3–4 places”, confirms Maunuksela.
Jasmi Joensuu spoke about the topic at Tour de Ski. He proposed joint exercises for sprinters as a solution.
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