Olympic Games Siiri “Mother” Rantanen, 97, moved from the Olympic medals – “Both Kerttu and Krista held their own heads tightly and did not nerve at all”

In winter 1952 Finnish women were at the absolute top of cross-country skiing. At the Oslo Olympics Lydia Wideman won the women’s traditional ten and Siiri “Mother” Rantanen fought for the bronze.

Now on Thursday, 70 years later, the Zhangjiakou Olympic landscape saw echoes of history as Kerttu Niskanen slammed the traditional ten with silver and Krista Pärmäkoski for bronze.

“Finland is once again one of the best in the world for women,” Rantanen, 97, told IS by telephone.

“Yes, I was quite moved when it was confirmed that Finland had received up to two medals. Insanely great thing. ”

Fair a year ago the other leg of a ski legend had to be amputated, which was a big setback for an eternal bayman. There has been no such thing for the track since then, but he has been watching top skiing closely on TV ever since.

“This race was exceptionally exciting, once and for all,” Rantanen said.

“I wouldn’t have believed in two medals, but luckily our girls had practiced hard and effectively. The real secret in the race was that both Kerttu and Krista held their own heads tightly, and did not get nervous about their pace, for example. ”

Rantanen’s eyes had shown that the Finns had everything as planned.

“Even though Kerttu lost the gold medal so impossible (0.4 seconds), he shouldn’t mourn at all. The medal at the Olympics is always a victory, ”Rantanen said.

“Congratulations to the girls, I’m going to watch all the other starts.”

Kerttu Niskanen (left) and Krista Pärmäkoski aired their medals. Picture: Markku Ulander / Lehtikuva