Skiing Last winter’s world champion Niilo Moilanen is confidently waiting for the World Championship sprint: “The pace should be enough even in free time”

The most interesting In addition to Jasmin Kähärä, who also skied at the Olympics, there are Finnish names in this week’s World Championships in Youth in Lygna, Norway. Niilo Moilanen.

Moilanen, who won the World Championship gold sprint a year ago as a skier, has jumped to a new level this winter, although the training season was colored by the challenges posed by the army and a little uncertainty about the functionality of the whole.

“The starting points for this period were not quite favorable. I am particularly pleased with the way we have got a coach (Tuomo Kiviniemi) to make the internship a success. I have been able to develop, even though the training season was different, ”Moilanen tells STT.

He has taken his first points in the World Cup this winter. The happy thing for the skier himself is that they have come with both types of skiing. At his best, he has been 22nd.

“It has been an important metric for me to notice that the pace is enough even in the World Cup. A significant steppe, of course, because the goals and objectives are there. The goal is to get on the leaderboard all the time and be able to fight even better. It has been important to have experience. ”

Moilasen the strengths remain the same, although the World Championship sprint skiing style has changed from traditional to free, and Moilanen’s series has changed from under-20s to under-23s.

“At least the pace should be enough for free. It certainly won’t stick to that. In the free sprint, the strongest places for myself are those where you can go with “wassu” and Mogren, ”Moilanen explained the skiing techniques.

“Lygna has a short and time-fast track. There will definitely be an electric sprint.”

At the time of the interview, Moilanen was still at home but thought the World Cup was right for him. There are many things that can happen in sprint, but if all goes well, Moilanen has a good chance of reaching the finals.

“The level is tough, of course. The top names are the ones who ski in the semi-finals and even the finals of the World Cup. It’s hard to say a specific performance goal, but hopefully I’ll get the best result that day.

Reflected The skier representing the Ski Team has been seen to be quite calm about even the big successes, so his comments under the main goal of the season sound promising:

“The feeling is quite positive and confident. The trainings have gone well. There is no point in trying any more magic tricks here. Let’s trust what has been done,” Moilanen anticipates a sprint for under-23s to ski on Saturday.