Alisa Vainio’s funny revelation about Johanna Matintalo — spat water on her

Marathon Finnish record-holder Alisa Vainio and elite skier Johanna Matintalo reminisced on Yle’s Urheilustudio about races they ran together as juniors in cross‑country running.

Both competed in the same cross‑country races in the early 2010s. In 2015 they fought for medals in the U19 Finnish cross‑country running championships at Imatra: Noora Wallenius won, Matintalo was second and Aino Kivenmäki fourth. Vainio says she did not finish that race.

Matintalo was a standout middle‑distance runner as a youth—at age 14 she placed second in the 800 m at the 2011 Finnish Championships and later won the national title at that distance. In the 2015 cross‑country races Vainio was stronger at the longer distances while Matintalo focused on middle distances; Matintalo recalls trying to hang on in Vainio’s finish kick.

Vainio, who has since concentrated on running, became fifth at the marathon world championships this year. Matintalo won a World Championships relay bronze in ski‑mountain skiing (skiathlon/terrain‑skiing) in 2021 and has been selected for her third Olympics. The two agree their early rivalry helped each other develop — Matintalo says Vainio pushed her to maintain pace, while Vainio jokes Matintalo inspired her finishing speed.

Vainio also shared a humorous early memory: at one race Matintalo apparently took water into her mouth and spat it out, showering Vainio. Vainio says she remembered looking up at Matintalo in awe at the time. Matintalo was amused by the anecdote and said she would be honored if Vainio spat water over her now before a start.

Their last race head‑to‑head was the Nordic cross‑country running championships in November 2015 in Gothenburg, where Vainio won and Matintalo finished third. Matintalo says that was her last international athletics race; she later chose skiing as her primary sport. Having been selected to her third Olympics (Milano‑Cortina 2026), Matintalo hopes to contend across a wide range of distances, from sprint to 50 km, and to contribute strongly in the relay.

Sources: Yle Urheilustudio interview; race results from Imatra 2015.