Andreas Romar’s heir in the speed disciplines, the current queen of the sport and a wide-open slalom competition – here’s what you need to know ahead of the Alpine World Cup

The Finnish expectations are not sky high ahead of the Alpine World Championships. Yle Sporten goes through some key questions with expert Marcus Sandell and rounds up the profiles in the championship.

1. Is Finland’s WC goal reasonable?

The Finnish World Cup squad contains seven names and the objective is three places among the top sixteen.

How realistic is that?

In this winter’s World Cup, no Finn has been among the top sixteen, but Yle Sport’s expert Marcus Sandell believes that it is possible to fulfill the goal.

– You have to remember that there are fewer skaters in a WC when each country has a quota of four skaters. It gives better starting numbers for our riders. And in a World Cup, more people choose to take greater risks than in a normal competition in the World Cup.

Sandell highlights Samu Torsti in parallel giant slalom (twelfth in the WC two years ago), JVM silver medalist Eduard Hallberg in the same discipline and Elian Lehto in the speed disciplines to find top sixteen potential.

– Hallberg is in good shape. I am excited to see him in the parallel competition and hopefully in the team competition as well.

The sixteen highest ranked nations are allowed to compete in the team competition at the WC. Finland is ranked 23rd, but it is possible that Finland will still get a starting place.

2. Is the blue and white exclamation mark better than Andreas Romar?

There is no doubt that 22-year-old Elian Lehto is this winter’s alpine exclamation mark from Finland. Lehto took his first points in the World Cup when he was 20th in Val Gardena’s downhill race before Christmas and there have been many competitions around the 30 mark.

– He has the greatest opportunity to shine in the WC. He has the speed – and now he is in a classic phase where he tries to find the magical balance between driving too straight and too round, between taking risks and knowing where normal riding is enough. It is important to keep the focus on the technology, the results will come then, says Sandell about Finland’s speed specialist.

Lehto, who has a sporting background filled with everything from motocross to ski jumping, trains with the Swiss team. In doing so, he follows in similar footsteps as Finland’s most recent professional speed skater – Andreas Romar trained with the German team for periods during his active career.

Now the question is how Lehto stacks up against Roma, fourth and fifth in WC 2013.

– “Andy” had some incredibly strong qualities. He was very fast, good at sliding and he had a great sense of snow.

– My feeling is that Elian is more versatile. He is physically strong, stands well on his skis, is adept at reading the terrain and can therefore adapt his riding. When I first saw him in a downhill race, I was like, “Wow, he looks really seasoned,” and it came out of nowhere.

3. Is an unknown piste a Finnish advantage?

On the women’s side, the World Cup in Courchevel and Méribel is a recurring feature. On the men’s side, however, this is foreign land.

Throughout history, only three World Cup events have been run in Courchevel: the giant slalom in 1979 and the speed disciplines in the World Cup final in 2022.

– It is an advantage for the Finns. Experienced skiers have an advantage at classic competition locations, but now nobody has skied here many times.

– On the hill, there are parts that are technically challenging. But there are also parts where you have to push to pick up the pace and ride cheekily.

4. Does Shiffrin’s incredible WC record continue?

The big star of women’s alpine skiing is Mikaela Shiffrin – and the American’s result in the WC is unparalleled. She has won eleven medals in thirteen competitions.

– And she is by far the fastest of all in the technical branches. If she skis at her normal level, she will win gold in the slalom and giant slalom, says Sandell.

A year ago, Shiffrin failed in the Olympics, but the WC is something else.

– She had a lot more pressure on her then. Now she has an incomparable season behind her and she looks freer in her skating. On the other hand, it has been noticed that the pursuit of victory records in the World Cup has affected her. She had probably hoped to get it out of the way before the WC.

Shiffrin has passed Lindsey Vonn as the all-time leading scorer on the women’s side. Everything suggests that Shiffrin, with 85 victories in the World Cup, will pass Ingemar Stenmark (86 victories) before the season is over.

If Shiffrin takes home the technique gold, she will enter second in the all-time WC medal table on the women’s side.

5. Does the appendix put an end to the Norwegian ranking eight?

Last week came a leaden announcement for the Norwegian men’s team. The winter’s slalom number one Lucas Braathen was forced to have surgery to remove his appendix in the middle of the upload to the WC and now the entire championship is in danger.

At the same time, Norway has a solid men’s team. Aleksander Aamodt Kilde is a medal favorite in the speed disciplines and Henrik Kristoffersen is still very strong in the technical disciplines.

The Swiss Marco Odermatt is still the number one gold candidate in at least one discipline.

– In the giant slalom, it’s Odermatt against everyone else. He has looked ferocious all season and has proven that he can handle the pressure. In speed, it is the classic names that make up: Kilde and Odermatt and Vincent Kriechmayr.

– The men’s slalom, on the other hand, is the discipline where it can go just about any way. There are at least fifteen skaters who can take the gold.