Olympics: Lauri Vuorinen missed a medal in the sprint final

This is the best Finnish ranking in skiing at these Olympics so far.

Sanoma’s skiing expert Harri Kirvesniemi praises Vuorinen’s performance.

“A great performance, but there was probably not much more to be done. The season has been challenging and the qualifying skiing didn’t look good either, so all in all it was a good performance,” says Kirvesniemi.

The Olympic gold was less surprisingly won by Norway Johannes Kläbo with superior performance. The trophy was completed by the American Ben Ogden and Norwegian Oskar Vike.

“In the end, that medal was quite far away. Those three were in a class of their own. Maybe there was a small tactical blunder when Vuorinen didn’t get behind the top three at the beginning, and then the leg just wasn’t enough for the uphills.”

On the mountain had difficulties in qualifying and quarterfinals. He only finished 27th in the qualifying round.

He made it through the semifinals thanks to the time comparison, but in the semifinals the Finn finished second in his own heat and took a direct place in the final.

In the semi-final, he beat Ogden, who eventually came in second, with a great finish.

“In the intermediate heat, Lauri’s track choices were really good tactically. The straight push in the final straight was the best Lauri.”

You could take two pairs of skis with you to the final stage. Kirvesniemi suspects that, for example, Kläbo and Ogden saved the fresh pair for the finals, but Vuorinen did not.

“I bet that Kläbo and Ogden took a non-skiing pair to the final, but Vuorinen probably already changed them in the semi-final. There were no fresh skis in the final,” how it looked in the semi-final.

Vuorinen won the WC bronze in the freestyle skiing sprint at last year’s WC.

Kläbo was once again superior.

“In such a long and heavy sprint, that superiority is emphasized even more. When others are strained before the final”, Kläbo was able to advance to the final almost by just breathing through his nose.

About women advanced the furthest Johanna Matintalowho was in jumbo place in his own semi-final.

“It seemed to me that Matintalo had grip problems. He didn’t get to show strength on the climbs. There is a question mark, whether that speed on better skis would have been enough for the final. Satisfactory performance.”

Jasmi to Joensuu the day was disappointing. He qualified in the quarterfinals in the time trial. Just a few weeks ago, he won the Tour de Ski sprint on the same track.

“Jasmi’s qualification was of course disappointing. She took a conscious risk when she chose the first heat with tough competitors. Of course she went for a medal.”

“The straight push in the final straight is perhaps Jasmin’s biggest weakness compared to other top sprinters.”

“It would have been pretty impossible to beat those three Swedes. On the women’s side, there was nothing left to worry about when it came to a medal.”

Sweden took a triple victory in the women’s sprint. He took gold Linn Svahnsilver Jonna Sundling and bronze Maja Dahlqvist.

Also Jasmin Kähärä and Amanda Saari were eliminated in the quarterfinals.

About men Joni Mäki and Emil Liekari were eliminated in the quarterfinals. Niilo Moilanen missed the qualification.

“Apart from Lauri, there were no other Finnish winners,” said Kirvesniemi.

Read more: Jasmi Joensuu broke down in tears: “It wasn’t my day yet”

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