Olympics or X Games? Freeskier Jon Sallinen can’t choose, but admits that the invitation to the annual show competition in Aspen is loud. He goes there after the best performance of his career in the World Cup.
Four Americans, three Canadians – and Jon Sallinen. Finland’s lone wolf in the freeski family is in exclusive company, to say the least, when the winter X Games are decided in Aspen at the end of this week.
Sallinen will be the first Finn since 2014 to compete in the halfpipe competition on skis in the X Games.
– I was very surprised when the invitation came. It was funny to wake up that morning and see that email. It will be huge, says Sallinen to Yle Sporten.
Image: Esa Fills / Yle
Jon Sallinen, halfpipe (track), halfpipe (freestyle), Free Skating, Ski Sport Finland
For many active in extreme sports, the X Games rank at least as high as the Olympics. For some, the more showy competitions in the USA are more important.
– I put the X Games in the same category as the Olympics. I want to do well there.
“Do it well” and “Get a good ride” are the closest goals you get from Sallinen.
– The goal is to ride at the level that I have in me and complete the ride.
– The Americans are good at selling their events as a big show, and the X Games is a freer form of competition than, for example, the World Cup. You have more time to make more attempts than in other competitions.
The Olympic effort is remembered by many
When it comes to concrete results, there are three competitions in the World Cup to lean on. The week before Christmas, Sallinen was fifth in the winter premiere in Copper Mountain and last week the real success came when he won for the first time in the World Cup.
After the victory, Sallinen could hardly find words to describe his feelings. The efforts in the World Cup show why he is invited to the X Games – even if it really messed up before the competition in December.
– My equipment showed up the day before the competition, so I couldn’t train properly. I don’t know if it also helped, that the stress became less. I knew the preparations hadn’t been good and it wasn’t the whole world if it didn’t go so well.
The lowered expectations then were not so strange. Halfpipe is a difficult discipline, and if you end up crooked in a jump, you risk landing at the bottom of the course or on the shelf above the halfpipe.
Jon Sallinen’s qualification for the Olympics in China went astray.
Image: Bryan Keane/INPHO/Shutterstock/All Over Press
Jon Sallinen
Sallinen got to experience it when he had more Finnish eyes on him than normal during the Olympic qualification last winter. Then he crashed straight into a cameraman.
– I haven’t got a nickname because of it, yet. But if I say I’ve competed in the Olympics and I tell you about the crash, everyone knows. But that incident shows that anything can happen in an extreme sport.
Changed coach before the season
After the Olympic season, Sallinen changed coaches. Nowadays, New Zealander Peter Legnavsky is responsible for Sallinen’s training.
– At the beginning of the season, the coaching question was open. When we were in New Zealand to train, I asked him. Everyone knows each other in this sport and it has been important to train with them.
New Zealand is one of the countries prominent in the sport, along with the United States and Canada. However, European colors in halfpipe are easy to count.
– In Finland it is difficult to practice halfpipe – this year I don’t even think a single proper halfpipe is being built and it feels boring. It would be cool if there were places to train in the Nordics. Now there are quite a few travel days per season.
Image: Lehtikuva/Markku Ulander
Jon Sallinen
In training, Sallinen has picked up new tricks. He tells us that there is more in the X Games toolbox.
– It is important to learn how to successfully land them and gain momentum for the next jump, but I should have a couple of tricks that I haven’t done in competition. I often train with my competitors, but it would be fun to have some surprise to throw in.
Sallinen hopes to invite a number of friends to entertainment in Aspen. He went to high school in the US for a couple of years and the X Games is, in a way, a competition on home soil.
– I went there to be able to practice halfpipe and it will be great to be able to go there. I hope my friends will come there and watch.
