Four Finnish skiers were caught in fluorine creams at the weekend in Otepää. Finland's maintenance manager Mika Ström explains how this happened.
Cross-country skiing The race weekend of the Scandinavian Cup in Otepää ended in a scandalous atmosphere for Finns.
On Sunday, it was reported that the skis of four Finnish skiers had been found to have excessively high levels of fluoride after Saturday's 20 km (p) race, which is why they were rejected.
The “curled” skiers were Lauri Lepistö, Rebecca Immonen, Anni Kaipainen and Olli-Pekka Laitila.
It was the first fluoride rejections of Finnish skiers after the International Ski Federation's FIS ban came into effect for this season.
As Finland's maintenance manager in Otepää, hääränni Mika Strömin according to the carts came completely out of the box for the Finns.
“We were completely surprised when we found out that the limit value of the fluoride test had been lowered for the Otepään races from 1.8 to 1.0. We couldn't prepare for it in any way,” says Ström in frustration.
The numbers given by the fluoride testing device are not actual units of measurement, but the machine's own numerical values. The test device illuminates the bottom of the ski with infrared and then makes a frequency conversion from the reflection, which is used to determine what substance is on the bottom of the ski.
Mika Ström is an experienced lubricator. Photo from 2016.
in southern Estonia the fluoride values of the athletes' skis were tested before and after the Games. The permitted limit values were exceeded only in Saturday's 20 km post-race test.
The Finnish maintenance team had been allowed to test some skis with the organizer's equipment before the Games. At that time there were no problems. The Finns did not have their own testing equipment with them.
According to Ström, two of the four rejections were due to careless cleaning of the skis, which had been the responsibility of the skiers themselves. The old fluorides had not been cleaned from the bottom of the cups with sufficient precision.
“For the other two athletes, there was no problem with cleaning, but they skied the race on old skis that had been skied and powdered a lot during the fluoride era. In the 20-kilometer race, the fluoride-free cream was worn so much that the old fluorides left in the pores of the sole came to the fore. Before this weekend, it wouldn't have been a problem when the limit value was 1.8,” says Ström.
Ström says that the maintenance team was quite shocked when the organizers appeared at the Finnish service booth after Saturday's race.
“The surveyor came to ask me to speak and asked what creams we had used”.
Ström says that he assured the surveyor that the Finns' skis had been heate
d with fluoride-free creams in accordance with current regulations and then ordered the surveyor to show the parameters of the fluoride testing device.
According to them, the reflection values of Finnish skiers' skis barely exceeded the limit of 1.0.
At that stage, Ström was still under the belief that the limit value was still the same 1.8 as in the previous games of this season.
“It said that now the limit had been dropped to 1.0. I was like, what the hell?”
Anni Kaipainen was one of the Finns whose skis did not pass the organisers' fluoride test.
Quartermaster Ström gives the example of a Finnish person who was exposed to fluoride.
According to him, on the bottom of the ski, under the heel in the pressure area, there were a couple of places in the area of five centimeters where the limit values were exceeded. The rest of the success clearly fell below the limit value.
“If there is about a little fluoride in the horse, the athlete does not get the fucking benefit of the horse,” says Ström.
It annoys Ström that his troops have been suspected of deliberate deception.
“We certainly didn't try to cheat, I can assure you of that. On Saturday, 33 athletes left us for the finish line, and there was a problem with four of them. If we had tried something, at least half would have been caught”.
Former A national team member Lauri Lepistö skied fourth in Friday's sprint, but after Saturday's race, the fluoride testing device showed red. Photo from last March.
None of the Finnish skiers' skis beeped red in the fluoride test conducted before the competition, Ström reminds.
In addition, one of the skiers skipped Friday's sprint with the same pair of skis as on Saturday, when the skier took place. The problems only appeared after a long, 20-kilometer race.
In Ström's opinion, the new limit values are too strict. Finnish maintenance could not have done anything to avoid the carts, even if they had known the new values of the fluoride measuring device.
The matter was beyond the control of the maintenance forces. Ström's accounting is grim.
“It's been a bit annoying. What the hell did I do? Totally fucked up in the sense that athletes are labeled as cheating. Damn, they haven't cheated anything. Most of them knew how to clean a ski properly.”
Otepään competitions went great from the Finns. Cross mat Hakola won the sprint on Friday and Johanna Matintalo was third. In Saturday's 20 kilometers (p) it was Matintalo's turn to win and Hakola to be third.
On Sunday, in the 10 kilometer (v) free race, the best Finnish performance came from the fourth Eveliina Piippo.
Their skis passed the organizer's screen.
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