Kerttu Niskanen Slowed Down Her Parade Journey in the World Cup – Aino-Kaisa Saarinen Accepted the Explanation

Kerttu Niskanen was only the third best among the Finnish competitors in the traditional 10 km race held in Falun, finishing well behind the leader. In the World Cup race, Niskanen ended up in 10th place on the classical technique course, more than a minute and 11.6 seconds behind Sweden’s dominant winner Ebba Andersson.

Speaking on Viaplay, Niskanen described the race as extremely tough from start to finish, citing the difficulty of skiing at altitude after having spent very little time at sea level. She admitted that the day was not good for her performance and that she expected much more from herself.

Nonetheless, Niskanen is not overly worried about one subpar race with the World Championships only a few weeks away. She mentioned that the last World Cup events had gone well and that her training camp had been successful. Expert Aino-Kaisa Saarinen approved Niskanen’s explanation, noting that skiing at high altitude can feel like being in thick tar if your muscles and breathing are not acclimatized to sea level. Saarinen emphasized that the extra effort seen in the race was exactly what is needed when returning to lower elevation conditions.

The race in Falun is particularly interesting as the same 10 km traditional event will be held in the World Championships in Trondheim at sea level in a few weeks. Saarinen expressed her belief that if everything falls into place, Niskanen still has a chance to step onto the podium. Meanwhile, another Finnish skier, Jasmi Joensuu, who finished in 9th place, hinted at possibly competing in different events at the Championships, given that the next race in the program is a classical sprint scheduled for Tuesday, 4 March.

Saarinen recalled her own experience from the 2009 World Championships in Liberec, when she won gold on the traditional technique course. At that time, she too came from a high-altitude training camp and had to readjust to sea level conditions, which eventually led to a breakthrough performance. Finnish cross-country skier Krista Pärmäkoski, who finished in 8th place, also delivered a solid performance that the expert had anticipated.

Overall, despite the setback, the day’s strong performances provide a promising outlook for the upcoming World Championships, and the athletes are preparing for a competitive multi-race program in Trondheim.