A New Perspective on Finland's World Championship Medal Dreams Crumbling – Aino-Kaisa Saarinen Witnessed a Sad Sight

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Finland's dreams for a World Championship medal were crushed in the men's relay during the very first leg, when Niko Anttola fell on a downhill section just before reaching the stadium.

The Czech Michal Novak, who stumbled ahead of Anttola, caused him to react and lose his footing.

Anttola has taken the fall on himself in interviews with Yle.

Yle Sports' skiing expert Aino-Kaisa Saarinen believes there was also an element of bad luck in this situation.

Saarinen has reviewed the incident on video multiple times and noted comparisons.

After examining the footage, Saarinen concluded that there appeared to be a hole or dip in the track at the spot where Anttola fell.

• The Czech skier also had a similar issue in a later round, but he was prepared and managed to correct the situation without going off the track, Saarinen describes.

Saarinen reminded that in relays it is crucial to keep up with the lead group.

• The lead team practically escaped as a result of that fall. It was indeed a huge pity, Saarinen said, summarizing it as:
• One can say it ended sadly.

Finland finished tenth in the relay. Additionally, Lauri Vuorinen lost a sprint finish to Britain's James Clugnet.

Saarinen didn't dwell on that too much, as she felt it did not matter whether Finland placed ninth or tenth.

Britain came in ninth because James Clugnet was able to outpace Lauri Vuorinen in the sprint finish. Finland ended up with a time 2:13.2 behind Norway, who won.

Surprise

For the second consecutive time, Saarinen noted that Switzerland was a surprise on Yle's Sports Studio follow-ups.

This time, the Swiss men secured a silver in the relay, adding to the bronze they won in Wednesday's women's team sprint.

This was the first relay medal for the Swiss men's ski team at World Championships. They brought home bronze from the relay at the 1972 Olympics.

Saarinen marveled at the apparent surprising drive from the Swiss team, noting that recent performances have made it seem like anything is possible for them.

• I didn't have them in the medal race beforehand at all. They have shown stellar skiing from everyone, Saarinen praised.

Valerio Grond managed to outpace Edvin Anger of Sweden and secured this surprise silver medal for Switzerland in the relay.

Flop

Saarinen labeled another Central European team, France, as a flop.

In the last ten years, this was just the second time France failed to earn medals in the men’s World Championship relay. The previous time was back in 2017 at the Lahti championships.

Now France was placed fourth, behind Switzerland and Sweden.

• In my pre-race expectations, Finland, Sweden, and France were fighting hardest for medals behind Norway.

• The French should have been able to drop others with their travel speed, but no one was able to do that. They skied along with the others. The result is this, Saarinen assessed.

What’s Next?

Finland has one of the most anticipated medal prospects of these championships on Friday when the women’s relay takes place.

Aino-Kaisa Saarinen sees a medal opportunity for Finland and predicts strong performances from the women after their bitter fourth-place finish in the team sprint on Wednesday.

The Finnish team consists of Johanna Matintalo, Kerttu Niskanen, Krista Pärmäkoski, and Jasmi Joensuu. Saarinen's lineup had Joensuu starting, Pärmäkoski anchoring, and Niskanen running third.

Pärmäkoski attempted to ensure she could compete in the traditional style, even for the first two legs.

In that context, Saarinen understood Pärmäkoski's desire, but felt she had skied well while running free this season, much like Niskanen.

• Honestly, I would have started Jasmi, because we saw in the men’s relay that you can't fall behind at the start. Jasmi has also started relays before and succeeded, Saarinen suggested.

Joensuu's situation has sparked discussion as she had been out of it post the dramatic team sprint. However, Saarinen believes Joensuu is in good form for the relay.

• It won’t have impact. When a person is in good shape, they recover. Even if a person performs like that, they will recover just fine. After a rest day, it doesn't matter at all, Saarinen reflected.

Jasmi Joensuu required help at the finish after the championship team sprint.

In pre-race interviews with the Finnish skiers, Kerttu Niskanen and Johanna Matintalo noted that creating gaps in the opening leg is unusual, but now it is Norway's tactic with Heidi Weng going first. Matintalo also added her analysis that speedy opening legs have been seen before.

Aino-Kaisa Saarinen has first-hand experience of increasing leads during the opening leg.

She recalls a classic skiing event with Virpi Kuitunen (now Sarasvuo) who once broke away with over a 20-second lead on the opening leg in the gold medal relay in Sapporo.

Saarinen then proceeded with a decisive advantage into her second leg.

• There have indeed been large gaps made on the opening leg. Virpi quickly disappeared from the view of the others, even though they were skiing 5 kilometer legs back then. Now, however, we are skiing the first legs for the first time at 7.5 kilometers in competitions, Saarinen elaborated.

World Relay Champions Pirjo Muranen, Riitta-Liisa Roponen, Aino-Kaisa Saarinen, and Virpi Kuitunen in Sapporo 2007. Image: Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images.