Aino-Kaisa Saarinen is Worried about Finnish Women – Also Targets Skiing Officials and Therese Johaug

What’s happening?

During the final day of the Trondheim World Championships, Yle Urheilu's skiing expert Aino-Kaisa Saarinen discussed the unusual conditions. The ski trails were reportedly in terrible shape, leading to frustrating competition scenarios.

– The tracks looked absolutely dreadful. It seemed like the women were slogging through mud. They were forced to do a kind of flat skiing usually only seen during the climbs in the Tour de Ski, Saarinen observed.

Saarinen acknowledged the context of the conditions, explaining that the tracks had to be salted, which could not be maintained due to the weather conditions.

Krista Pärmäkoski attempted to push through the slushy tracks as her coach Ville Maunuksela lamented the situation. The inconsistencies in track conditions overshadowed the excitement of the competition.

The championships began with icy conditions, leading to concerns about safety and performance. The Swedish sprint star Linn Svahn suffered a concussion and had to withdraw due to injuries sustained on the treacherous course.

Saarinen emphasized that adjustments were needed within the Fischer, particularly because the women's team has lacked formidable dominance, which has been absent since the Liberec World Championships of 2009.

– FIS failed during the sprint qualifiers by not effectively guiding the track crew. Logically, the crew should have been on site, but that wasn’t the case, Saarinen recalled.

Major Surprise at the Event

One of the biggest surprises at the championship was Norway's Therese Johaug, who was expected to win the historic women's 50 kilometers but ultimately settled for third place.

This marked a disappointing tally for Norway, as it secured no gold medals in women’s skiing for the first time since the 2009 Liberec championships. Saarinen was astonished by Johaug's performance, noting that her medal came as a consolation after an unfortunate fall by Ebba Andersson during the final stretch.

Saarinen detailed how critical the race conditions have become for Johaug, indicating her desperation for the win, yet she was unable to prevail in the final leg. Johaug's subpar performance raised eye-brows within the community, considering her previous standings.

Finnish men’s success was highlighted, particularly with Lauri Vuorinen making history by winning the country's first medal in the sprint. However, it seems the Finnish women once again failed to clinch the medals at these championships.

The last individual medal for the Finnish women came in 2017 in Lahti, which places pressure on the high-performance athletes as they approach Olympic qualifications.

Saarinen noted the necessity for Finnish women’s skiing to learn from its elders, pressing for joint training sessions between experienced athletes and promising talent. This step would allow for knowledge transfer and better preparation for future championships.

Saarinen believes that despite challenges, Finnish women skiing requires rejuvenation and new strategies to ensure promising results in the future.