Saarinen’s skis lack speed in women’s sprint event

Best Finn Kuitunen finishes ninth

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Aino-Kaisa Saarinen’s chances in the Olympic women’s cross-country skiing sprint event (traditional style) were spoiled by a pair of skis that were not as slick as those of her competitors.
      In her Wednesday quarter final effort Saarinen was left third, which closed the door to fighting over medals.
      In the end the Olympic gold went to Norway’s Marit Björgen, whose performances were nothing short of dazzling.
     
”Shame that it went like it did”, said disappointed Saarinen. “Today was a good day. Everything seemed to fall into place. The skis worked well when going uphill, but the downhill performance left room for improvement.”
     In the last decent of the quarter final, four-time World Champion Saarinen, who came in second in the qualifying round, lost the advantage that she gained in the uphill stretches and the three women coming from behind nearly overtook her just by gliding faster.
      The conditions changed radically during the competition as the sun started heating the track after a frosty night. This had an effect on the gliding properties of the skis.
      “But there are four more competitions left, and I am in top shape. That has not changed. So, let’s not throw in the towel just yet”, Saarinen added.
     
The best Finn in the event was Virpi Kuitunen, who finished 9th.
      “This was my best sprint of the season, but I was left with the feeling that I should have done better”, Kuitunen commented.
      From the Finnish point of view the tune in the men’s event was more or less the same. The best Finns, Kalle Lassila and Sami Jauhojärvi crossed the finish line 10th and 12th respectively.
      A 1-2 victory went to Russians Nikita Kriukov and Alexander Panzhinskiy. A photo finish ruling was required to determine the winner.


Links:
  Aino-Kaisa Saarinen (Wikipedia)

Helsingin Sanomat