Combined Petter Kukkonen received a concise splash about the Norwegian star’s corona infection, but there is much more behind the spontaneous reaction

Finland head coach of the combined national team Petter Kukkonen comment on social media was harsh and true when he heard the Norwegian superstar of his species Jarl Magnus Riiberin coronary infection on Thursday.

“Ei v **** u.”

Riiber has already won four World Championships and three World Cup championships in his career, even though he is only 24 years old.

Riiber’s brightest medal from the Olympics is silver and seems to remain so for the time being.

Riiber has given two positive corona samples at the Olympics, and with this information, the Norwegian superstar of the sport in Beijing is over.

“This is very bad news for the sport and the Games,” Kukkonen wrote on his Twitter account.

Kukkonen has enough sympathy for the Norwegians and is annoyed for Riiber.

Already in the name of general fairness, Riiber, who ruled the sport in recent years, would have earned the opportunity to compete in Zhangjiakou and strive for the missing Olympic gold.

The justification is simple.

“Riiber is the leading image of our sport and has taken it the most in recent years,” says Kukkonen in a telephone interview.

But is behind Kukkonen ‘s heavy departure from more than just fairness to his competitors.

It is annoying that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is pushing sports into the background when making decisions.

Too much money matters. In addition to sports, human rights and environmental issues will also be left behind in the IOC, with a handsome framework and large sponsorship agreements at stake.

“I’m a bit of an idealist,” Kukkonen begins.

“I understand we want to get new viewers and markets, but that can’t be all. Four years ago, Pyeongchang in South Korea hosted the great Olympics, but there was no audience, even though the audience is the salt of competitive sports. ”

Kukkonen will not receive applause from Beijing as the host of the race either. He believes that, at least for Nordic species, the auditoriums in Beijing would be empty even without the corona epidemic.

“Driving here from the races to the mountains is from Beijing for hours. There will be no houses or trees on the trip for a long time. This is really on the sidelines, ”he refers to Zhangjiakou Ski Resort.

Kukkonen also considers China’s corona efforts to be excessive. Strict restrictions and constant testing have made athletes and others in the race bubble nervous.

“I agree with the chairman of the Russian Ski Association Jelena Välben with [Ylen haastattelu]the corona has become far too large in the Games, especially in the rest of the world. ”

However, Kukkonen understands that the IOC and China wanted to organize the Games, even though Korona has picked up a big slice in the news coverage of the sports festival.

“The Tokyo Games had to be postponed for a year and the omicron wave came quickly and unexpectedly. There is no way to cancel such races in a few weeks. ”

Kukkonen considers the Chinese to be corona-reliable, although there may be delusions.

“There are so many tests that everything can happen. Fortunately, negative tests allow you to compete, the most important thing is that justice is done. ”

Finland the combined national team has enough experience of its own in coronavirus.

A year ago, won the World Championship silver Ilkka Herolan The World Cup trip was to remain a dream due to an asymptomatic but long-lasting positive corona infection.

After a two-week World Cup weekend, Herola returned to compete last weekend in Seefeld, Austria, and was second fastest on the track on Sunday.

According to Kukkonen, the infection did not affect Herola’s condition, and the preparations have gone well anyway. Herola began to get used to the time difference well in advance by waking up. The last three years have been invested in high-level practice.

Herola has all the prerequisites to succeed in the Olympics.

“Beauty is in the best shape of its career.”

Riiber’s absence enhances Herola’s otherwise worthy medal opportunities.

“Medals are yours, guys,” Norwegian wrote on his Instagram account.

Now Norway is wondering where Riiber got infected.

The leader of the united team Ivar Stuan estimates that it may have missed a flight to Beijing involving Danish hockey players and journalists.

“Some call this bingo and others bad luck. You can never be confident or do things well enough. If we knew the origin of the virus, maybe we could learn something, ”Stuan said To the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation NRK.

The combined normal race will start on Wednesday at 10 am Finnish time on the hill section.

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