Pole breaking, washing up and a lousy sprint – Finland’s sprint team was forced to sum up a tough day in Toblach: "Bitter aftertaste"

Freestyle sprinting is not Finland’s best discipline. Six out of six skaters were eliminated in the quarter-finals – and the exit was bitterest for Joni Mäki. “I should have been more patient,” says Mäki after the break.

Finnish success in sprint skiing has been relatively thin. The last competition before the WC in Planica gave no storm warnings.

When the quarter-finals were run, six out of six Finns had done their part.

– The final session left a bitter aftertaste. The qualification was quite good, but in the quarter-finals many of our skaters had heavy legs and made bad moves tactically. And we never got to see Joni Mäki’s capacity, says national team coach Ville Oksanen to Yle in Toblach.

The highest hopes were for qualifier Joni Mäki, but his chances were dashed almost immediately. Mäki ended up far behind after the starting line and in the first uphill he hooked up with Logan Diekmann.

Mäki suffered the worst when the right pole was broken.

– When you have the facts and can use hindsight, I tried to squeeze past in an unnecessarily narrow place. The staff landed between his legs and went off. I should have been more patient, says Mäki.

When you have the facts and can use hindsight, I tried to squeeze past in an unnecessarily narrow place

Mäki was self-critical and notes that the spare stick never became his friend.

– I didn’t get a real grip on the stick. It felt like it was slipping out of my hand all the time.

The Finns’ strength was exhausted

Mäki was the first out of the Finnish lords. A total of four advanced from the qualifiers, but they followed Mäki out of the competition in turn.

Verneri Poikonen was washed up after colliding with a competitor, Verneri Suhonen and Niilo Moilanen’s strength tired.

– I did the best qualifying run of my life. When they called out that I was a second and a half behind the lead at the halfway mark, I thought they were telling the wrong rider the split time. In the heat, there was close contact with another skater, says Poikonen.

– There was nothing to do. I couldn’t answer and finished last in the heat. There have been a lot of question marks in the air after a longer competition break, says Suhonen.

– The goal was a semi-final place, but I drew the short straw. But as a whole, my day was okay, the qualification was successful, says Moilanen.

Joensuu had a weak sprint

Jasmi Joensuu started her season by finishing fourth in the classic sprint in Ruka. Since then, she has not made it past the quarterfinals, and that trend continued in Toblach.

– A greeting to the coach: we can start grinding on the sprint. Something has to start happening there. Now I was bad at the end, says a disappointed Joensuu.

Among other things, Joensuu was passed by distance specialist Kerttu Niskanen. Niskanen was third in the heat, but the time was not enough to advance to the semi-finals.

– On a track like this, there will be bunch driving and my plan was to save energy until the end. I was able to pick up a couple of places, says Niskanen, who is charging for Saturday’s distance race and Sunday’s relay.

Superior victors

Significantly sharper than the Finns were Jonna Sundling and Johannes Høsflot Klæbo. They took home today’s sprint with a clear margin.

Sundling really impressed and distanced his opponents in the final – including a number of teammates. She won the closest before Maja Dahlqvist.

– The body feels good and the shape is there. Now I’m going to train a bit before the WC, says Sundling in the victory interview.

In the men’s final, there was a Norwegian double victory. Klæbo did what he wanted with the opposition and was able to offer a victory gesture at the riot. Håvard Solås Taugbøl was able to sprint down home rider Federico Pellegrino.

– Great to be back as a winner, says Klæbo, who was beaten in the sprint in Les Rousses last weekend.