Commentary: Is this how Finland’s World Championship medal in skiing went away? A groundbreaking invention was left on the negotiation table - "Farce"

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TRONDHEIM.

Time flies; in 1997, the best Finnish skier, Mika Myllylä, placed 10th in the 30 km (v) event at the Trondheim World Championships, and that was seen as a disaster.

Fast forward 28 years, and at the same venue, with the World Championship team operating without Iivo Niskanen, the best performance from Finland came from a competitor in the somewhat unique 10 km (p) time trial, finishing again in 10th place. Ville Ahonen's struggle in extreme conditions with wet snow gained some attention in Imatra.

Later, when the women's race concluded, Kerttu Niskanen’s participation saw the last realistic chance for Finland to secure a medal in this prestigious event vanish.

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The positioning of four Finnish men within the top 21 with acceptable gaps to the leader indicates that the equipment side did not fail. In Ahonen's case, the grip wax may have provided a competitive edge.

Krista Pärmäkoski's skis were practically a memorable disaster, not typical for someone with such a long and accomplished career in elite skiing during the Tuesday’s 10 km (p) World Championship race.

Further examining Ahonen's performance reveals an interesting detail. Matti Heikkinen won the time trial at the Oslo World Championships in 2011, which was also 15 km long at that time, similar to the latest championships.

Hunger Grows

When Niskanen is taken off the board, Finland's best male athlete from 2013 to 2023 had indeed never lost out on a medal in a time trial at the World Championships so narrowly, by just 27 seconds, as Ahonen did on Tuesday.

However, the hunger for victory grows:

– In such conditions, we could have provided great relief for our support team and athletes. There would have been clarity that it works perfectly without freezing, remarked Aino-Kaisa Saarinen.

– I assess that this would have helped Finland secure a medal today, commented Jari Isometsä, an expert at MTV, contemplating the harsh conditions in Trondheim.

– An excellent condition precisely for this, commented Toni Roponen, an expert from the Olympic Committee’s high-performance unit, while ski coach.

– It would have provided significant competitive advantages today in such icy conditions, stated a highly experienced ski maintenance professional.

– No doubt about it, echoed another expert of the same caliber.

The performance of Johanna Matintalo under grip wax skis was at least acceptable, given her season marred by leg injuries: finishing at 10th spot is her best-ever individual performance at any championship.

Tight Secrecy

This "gear" is of course a topic that has been discussed in skiing circles for almost a year now—completely mechanically treated traditional ski bases that maintain their top performance throughout the competition and do not get dirty or freeze up. The project’s development was utterly unique in the history of Finnish sporting equipment.

Under strict secrecy for negotiations, the innovations were initially utilized by top skier Johanna Matintalo during the last season's World Cup in Falun. Matintalo expressed her hope during an interview with Yle Sports that such an invention would be present in the Trondheim World Championships, exclusively available for the Finnish team.

The weather history of the city indicated that just such extreme conditions—with completely legal domestic competitive advantages—might indeed have been available during the championships.

Currently, Therese Johaug has earned silver medals in the Trondheim World Championships—having narrowly missed out on gold to Ebba Andersson by a total of 1.3 seconds.

Farce

A key insider in top skiing describes the situation as a farce, emphasizing that such a potentially revolutionary and uniquely Finnish innovation has not been made available for a national team of such significance.

The entrepreneur fears espionage before the patent process crosses the finish line. During the MM who had keen eyes on the ski inventory, for example at fluorine testing, last season’s skis tested during the Falun World Cup were submitted to procedures without anyone knowing. The Nordic media has ensured over the last year that this matter is speculated on outside Finland as well.

Currently, there is no commercial product or brand involved since the base is not available to any national team or ski manufacturer. Besides Finland, interest has been indicated from Sweden, too. Exclusivity is key here.

For Olympic Use?

Toni Roponen, responsible for negotiations on behalf of the Olympic Committee, believes that the project can reach completion for the Olympic season of 2025-26 and hope for external sponsors. The company has not commented on this matter.

What’s clear is that the need of an aging A-team to close the gap to the leaders regarding ski equipment hasn’t decreased over the next few years.

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