Skiing|Krista Pärmäkoski and Kerttu Niskanen achieved their best positions of the season at the Lillehammer World Cup. Vilma Nissinen was exhausted.
For the races a skiing star who returned after a couple of years off Therese Johaug went wild at the World Cup in Lillehammer and at the same time became the favorite of the 2025 World Cup in Trondheim in the normal distances of cross-country skiing.
On Sunday, Johaug won the 20 km combined race in Lillehammer with a difference of 46.2 seconds to his toughest opponents.
Johaug’s Norwegian teammate Heidi Weng kiri from the second group to second. of the United States Jessie Diggins was third and Sweden’s Ebba Andersson fourth.
Krista Pärmäkoski and Kerttu Niskanen skied their best positions of the season in the World Cup. Pärmäkoski fought for sixth place in the half of the freestyle, but faded to eighth. Niskanen finished tenth.
“Very good,” Pärmäkoski assessed his ranking in a Yle TV interview.
Pärmäkoski was one minute and 41.7 seconds behind the winner and less than a minute behind the prize places. The gaps became large in the fast-paced race, but Pärmäkoski had traction problems in the second half of the traditional section, and the pace of the chasing group was not very good in the second round of freestyle skiing.
“The skiing was quite calm on the second skate ring. You could have skied harder,” Pärmäkoski recounted the stages of the competition.
“I didn’t have the legs to sprint up until the very end.”
Pärmäkoski there were also surprising problems during the free section in the downhills of the track, although he is considered a quite skilled calculator.
“The skis were extremely slippery. Age probably starts to weigh when you don’t really dare to count,” Pärmäkoski laughed.
Krista Pärmäkoski is not a climber on the level of Therese Johaug. A picture from Ruka’s World Cup a week ago.
Pärmäkoski skied 12th in the Ruka World Cup with the traditional top ten. The speed improved in Lillehammer, so he goes to the World Cup in Davos with hope. Next Sunday, a 20-kilometer traditional skiing competition is on the program.
“I’m going to hunt for a top six finish. I believe it will go well there, Pärmäkoski anticipates the last World Cup weekend before the Tour de Ski tour.”
Also Kerttu Niskanen’s pace is improving. He broke the traditional record for ski change in sixth and reached the top ten in the final results for the first time this season. Anne Kyllönen lost a few places halfway through the freestyle and ended up in 28th place.
Vilma Nissinen dropped out due to exhaustion. He feels he is in good shape, but the tough competition work backfired on the second weekend of the World Cup.
“I’m really tired at the moment,” Nissinen admitted to Yle about his exhaustion after four consecutive race weekends.