The third and final day of the Ruka World Cup weekend

The last day of the Ruka world cup weekend started with the men’s 10 km mass start in Nordic Combined. In clear weather, the Germans were once again the kings of the hill, just like on Saturday. The German trio of Julian Schmid, Vinzenz Geiger and Johannes Rydzek claimed the top three positions for the second day in a row, setting themselves up in excellent positions for the afternoon’s ski jumping segment.

During the ski jumping, Geiger’s fantastic weekend culminated in him soaring to victory in the overall competition. Sunday’s win marked his third podium of the weekend. Jarl Magnus Riiber returned to the podium after finishing fourth on Saturday, securing second place with a jump of 134.5 meters. The podium was completed by Germany’s Manuel Faisst. Austria’s Franz-Josef Rehrl delivered the biggest surprise of the competition, with an incredible 145-meter jump that saw him rise 36 places to finish fourth. The best skier, Schmid, dropped four places in the jumping segment, finishing fifth.
The best Finnish athlete was Ilkka Herola. After a solid skiing performance his jump did not go well, and he dropped to 21st place. A special mention goes to the young Eemeli Kurttila, who made an impressive 132-meter jump. Unfortunately, due to a poor skiing segment, he finished 55th.

The men’s 20 km freestyle race was a showcase of Norwegian dominance, even though Norway’s top star, Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, did not start due to feeling unwell. Norway took a clean sweep with Harald Oestberg Amundsenleading the way. Just behind him, Jan Thomas Jenssen and Martin Loewstroem Nyenget sealed the Norwegian celebration. The best Finnish athlete was Arsi Ruuskanen, who finished 14th, just under half a minute behind the winner. Iivo Niskanen, who led the pack at the beginning, faded toward the end and finished 17th, 48.1 seconds behind the leader.

In the women’s 20 km freestyle race, Therese Johaug led the pack for most of the race, but in the final stages, the Norwegian skiing star ran out of energy. Thanks to a powerful finishing sprint, last year’s World Cup champion, American Jessie Diggins, made a decisive break to win ahead of Sweden’s Jonna Sundling and Norway’s Heidi Weng. Johaug’s strength gave out in the final climb, and she ultimately finished fourth, 4.2 seconds behind Diggins. The best Finn was Krista Pärmäkoski, who finished 23rd, just under a minute and a half behind the leader.

The evening and the entire Ruka World Cup weekend culminated in the men’s ski jumping competition on the large hill, which took place in challenging conditions. The strong winds from previous days continued to make the competition difficult, but the first round was completed. However, the natural forces proved too much, and due to the strong winds, the second round had to be canceled. As a result, Germany’s Andreas Wellinger‘s 146.5-meter monster jump stood as the winning jump. Austria’s Stefan Kraft and Germany’s Karl Geiger completed the podium. The Finnish athletes performed excellently, as two Finnish ski jumpers earned their first World Cup points of the season. Niko Kytösaho’s 130-meter jump landed him in 13th place. Antti Aalto flew half a meter further, securing 11th place.

Although the Ruka world cup weekend ended with the cancellation of the ski jumping competition due to the weather conditions, overall, the weekend was a fantastic celebration of sports. Now, the lights at the Ruka ski stadium are going out, and the World Cup circus moves on to Lillehammer, Norway.

Text: Santeri Kulhoranta

Picture: Jenny Yliselä