Nordic Combined: Eero Hirvonen, the Olympic surprise
A historic nation in Nordic combined, Finland has long reigned supreme in this discipline at the Olympic Games. From Heikki Hasu, winner in 1948, to Hannu Manninen, multiple medallist in the 2000s, via Samppa Lajunen, triple Olympic champion in Salt Lake City in 2002, the Finns have piled up titles and podiums.
But since the team silver in Turin in 2006, the harvest has dried up. Despite a few places of honour, Finland had never been back on an Olympic podium, overtaken by the domination of Germany, Norway and Austria.
That’s how muchEero Hirvonen ‘s bronze is a relief to an entire country. Few observers could have imagined him celebrating like this on Wednesday. At the age of 30, the Finn regularly races close to the top 15 in the World Cup. In Trondheim (Norway) in December, he distinguished himself in cross-country skiing, rising from 31st place after the jump to finish 9th. He also finished 8th in the Ruka Gundersen at the start of the season. Encouraging signs, but nothing more.
And yet, in the final straight, Eero Hirvonen found himself in the wake of Norwegian Jens Luraas Oftebro, the eventual winner, and Austrian Johannes Lamparter, his runner-up. ” Sensation: Eero Hirvonen on the podium”, enthused Ilta-Sanomat. On Yle, consultant Ville Nousiainen praised his race: “What a run! He negotiated the inside of the bend perfectly on every run, made a series of overtaking moves and even managed to accelerate to join the fight for gold.
In the mixed zone, the emotion overwhelmed the hero of the day. ” Phew,” he repeated, searching for words. “Before the race, I wouldn’t bet a penny on myself. I’ve always hated this soft snow and I’ve often suffered in it,” he finally smiled, before savouring a bronze that has already gone down in Finnish history.
