The merciless pace of the competition and the traveling drum suck top skiers dry. Finland's head coach Teemu Pasanen demands action.
Hakunila
21. So many races Lauri Vuorinen calculated that he had been skiing since the beginning of November.
The number doesn't necessarily sound dizzying if you compare it to, say, the number of games played in ball games. However, in an endurance sport like cross-country skiing, it starts to literally be on the border of pain.
In the Vantaa SC sprint, skiers who were dressed up competed on Friday.
“You don't notice fatigue yet, but when we travel to Canada next week and even higher up, it can be difficult. It's a bit sad. I'd like to be in good shape by the time of the World Cup in Lahti in March, but there will be competitions weekend after weekend, so we'll see”, men's sprint champion Joni Mäki states.
HillVuorinen and the winner of the women's sprint on the tracks of Hakunila Jasmi Joensuu are among the skiers who competed last weekend in the high air in Goms, Switzerland, and are leaving for the North American tour starting next Friday. The Finns traveled to Goms directly from Oberhof in Germany.
The Finns' flight to the new continent leaves on Monday at seven in the morning. The skiers returned home from Goms on Monday or Tuesday of this week, depending on where they live.
Joensuu would very much like to ski all three races of the Vantaa weekend, because he represents the local skiing club. He has to miss Sunday's couple message.
“This is a bit difficult in terms of recovery. That's why I left Sunday's 20 kilometers in Goms without competitive skiing. I would like to ski all the competitions, but I have to make some choices based on the conditions of other competitions”, says Joensuu.
Jasmi Joensuu covered Jasmin Kähärä in a hard fight.
For example, Vuorinen had to spare himself so much this week that he didn't dare to do any opening practice for Friday's sprint. The solution was exceptional.
“After Goms, the first hard draw was qualifying today. Yes, it was visible and felt. Fortunately, the course improved towards the end”, commented Vuorinen, who was in the running for bronze.
The competitive pace that consumes Joensuu does not slow down.
“This is what it is practiced for. Let's do everything we can to last until the end. You can rest in the spring.”
Close the race calendar will inevitably be seen in the starting lists of the Vantaa SC Ski Championships.
From the tops Perttu Hyvärinen and Kerttu Niskanen had to withdraw from Hakunila's tracks completely. They missed Friday's sprint, among other things Krista Pärmäkoski,
Johanna Matintalo, Cross mat Hakola and Iivo Niskanen.
Women's silver medalist Jasmin Kähärä will not compete in Vantaa after Friday. The hill may be skiable on Sunday, but not on Saturday's 20 kilometers (p). Vuorinen's program is still open.
It is pointless to blame the athletes for their lack of interest in participating. For them, the Mid-Winter Championship is held at the wrong time. Of course, there are not many alternatives, because the World Cup is held almost every weekend.
“From my point of view, it would be nice if the WC were after the season like in Sweden. Of course, these are a good time for national skiers, because the calendar is otherwise pretty empty of big competitions in midwinter,” Mäki reflects.
Joni Mäki left Verneri Suhonen for silver and Vuorinen for bronze.
Finland's head coach Teemu Pasanen in my opinion, there is nothing to prevent the SC championships from being held on the same weekend as the world cup championships.
As another option, he presents the same as Mäki; organizing the championships at the spring hang.
“This is by no means good for a team competing in the World Cup. Maybe we have to get used to the fact that not all the best are in mid-winter domestic competitions. Even now, the WC only serve as observation races for the national group of the Salpausselä World Cup, and in the winter of prestigious competitions, the international clinchers are more important inspection races than the WC,” says Pasanen.
The head coach according to the World Cup, there are far too many competitions at this time. It not only complicates the organization of national championships, but also the athletes' recovery and training.
Quality over quantity.
“Nobody can ski all 40 races, even though with the current World Cup scoring system you have to do that in order to succeed. It causes problems for all countries and is already starting to show in the World Cups. That's where athletes miss messages,” Pasanen points out.
Teemu Pasanen thinks there are too many World Cup competitions.
In Pasanen's opinion, the World Cup calendar should be rationalized one way or another. The merciless amount of travel and the three-day race weekends that have become more common this season bring extra spice to the rumba.
“We ski every weekend, and traveling from one race location to another or home takes up to 8-9 hours. For each race weekend, it takes two days to travel and one day to test the skis. Skiers touring the Cup don't have time to train anywhere in between.”
The peak competition season currently lasts almost half a year.
“When you start in November and keep going at that pace every weekend, you're no longer in great shape in February-March. Everyone has that problem,” says Pasanen.
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