No ski imitations and no training stops

This week the Finnish Winter Sports Federation published lYou are a member of all their teams, whether snowmobiling or jumping in the Nordic countries, as well as the Alps. This last method is not very popular in a country with a lot of snow but few mountains with good slopes. Ago Cali Palander and Tania Puttiaenen They hung their shoes on, and no one else showed up as a replacement. A big difference with its Norwegian neighbors, as there is an entire Viking army able to counter the Swiss battalions despite having fewer members.

Nordic skiing is the king of sports in FinlandAnd by far. Their heroes are making headlines, opening news programs and being interviewed on television. They, as well as jumpers, are often targeted by the popular press. A big difference from alpine skiing, which is looked down upon and remains the ugly duckling of winter sports.

For the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, a lot of effort went into trying to get medals. € 1.7 million has been allocated In the National Alpine Ski and Freestyle Teams. The results are awesome. It was possible to accompany two alpine skiers and three free skiers. The best contestant was Andreas Romari, who finished 31st in Downhill and Super-G, as well as 24th in Alpine Combined. In the end, they returned with 6 medals, 4 of them in cross-country skiing, and bronze medals divided between ice hockey and figure skating,

The result is that after that There is no money to maintain an athletic structure for skiers. Here the shepherds do not arrive as in the Nordic countries or the way of jumping. Therefore every runner wants to belong to the structures of alpine skiing, You have to pay a whopping € 20,000! Although the standard of living in Finland is higher, many families think twice before paying off this fortune. On very few occasions, a sponsor can contribute some capital. If there are materials and discounts but no cash.

The union is arguing with this money Because to train them they have to go to other countries. In Finland, there are no revenue paths to achieve the podium in the World Cup, so you should look for locations abroad which increase the costs of travel, transportation, accommodation, maintenance, etc … in addition to the cost of the ski passes that the stations make you pay for.

Despite the fact that they are required to pay these 20 thousand euros, the Union confirms this The budget of each athlete is much higher. Many of these runners travel between 160 and 180 days a year. If you multiply that amount byR Between 120 to 130 euros it costs every day abroad From home (between hotel stays, meals, transfers, …), the budget quietly rises to approx 80,000 to 100,000 euros per season. These expenditures constitute a third of the budget.

It needs the best contestants Three technicians are with them. One for training, one for installing on-track equipment such as doors and a third for recordings and other tasks. And if they want to train in World Cup conditions, they also have to pay for a track freeze, and this whole process can easily take up to six hours.

Well, with this scenario, the Confederation has announced the teams that will have to face not only the World Cup season, but also the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games. There are a large number of young people who were already born in the twentieth century who have firm hopes, such as Oskari Sulkakowski Who did well in the World Junior Cup, winning a gold medal in Slálom.

Sprinter Erika Bikalainen and figure skater Charlotte Henrikson are also young after their stint at the World Junior Championships last March. Rosa Bohjulinen, Nella Corbio and Rika Honkanen scored some points last winter at the World Cup. In short, there are a lot of possibilities, but still everything is environmentally friendly. Something that might seem out of the question for a country with so much snow and a neighbor to power like the Norwegians.

Official teams for the Finnish ski season 2021-2022

world Cup

Development group