Inkki Inola skied to the medals – the guide sometimes stayed aside as planned

Finland Inkki No way skied to silver at the Milan-Cortina Winter Paralympics on Wednesday.

The 27-year-old Inola withstood the demanding conditions of Val di Fiemme and raised his ranking significantly at the end. The distance was 10 kilometers on traditional skiing.

In the TV stands, attention was drawn to the fact that Inola’s ski guide Reetu Inkila was not with Inola for all shares.

Inola coach Tuomas Törrönen reveals that it was a tactical bet and a pre-planned affair.

“Inkki likes that he doesn’t have a guide on the uphill sections. He wants to go alone, that’s his way of skiing. On the fast terrain, on the other hand, the guide is a helper. Inkki and Reetu planned in advance which points the guide will be with.”

Törrönen says that the guide might not even keep up with the skier the whole way.

The coach emphasizes that there is much more to a guide’s work than what is seen in competitions. Inkilä also constantly helps Inola in everyday life.

“Inkki and Reetu are a great couple. That’s their way, and those results aren’t bad at all.”

Inola competes in the visually impaired NS3 race class. In that case, the use of the guide is allowed, but not mandatory. For example, in the sprint on Tuesday, Inola skied without a guide in the heats.

Coach At the time of the interview, Törrönen had not yet had time to talk to his protégé after the medal performance.

“Silver was the maximum performance, especially for this situation, when yesterday was a bad day in the sprint. There was no chance for gold today, one was clearly better.”

of the United States Jake Adicoff beat Inola by almost two minutes, but the Finn was even faster than him at the very end of the race.

Did Inola tighten up or did the others freeze?

“Probably both. Many start so hard that they can’t finish. And we knew that Inkki is in great shape.”

“It’s typical of Inki to enjoy three laps and hit the last one. He has very often been the fastest in the last run.”

The coach says that he was quite sure of the medal halfway through, even though Inola was only fifth.

“At that stage, I thought the bronze was certain. But then when even the Chinese (Shuang Yu) congealed, it became silver.”

At the Winter Paralympics let’s ski relays on Saturday and 20 kilometers on Sunday. Inkki Inola is Finland’s only cross-country skier in Milano-Cortina.