Herola, Ähtävä and Thors win at Finnish nationals
Oct 11, 2018·Nordic Combined
Ilkka Herola asserted his dominance in Finnish Nordic Combined once again with yet another victory at the Finnish national championships. Alva Thors wins the title of the under 18 ladies’ competition, which was held for the first time, Rasmus Äthävä victorious in the U-18 boys’ event.
On the late Saturday night, the skiing part of the Nordic Combined summer nationals finished up in Lahti. Ilkka Herola of the Puijo Skiing Association was the strongest competitor in the championships and won before Arttu Mäkiaho, youngster Perttu Reponen claimed rank three.
Herola took the lead after the jumping part with a total of 125.6 points and also skied the fastest time of 12:25.0 on the 10 km roller ski track. Former Junior World Champion Arttu Mäkiaho was the second force to be reckoned with, starting his race only nine seconds after Herola with a total of 123.4 points and finished 35 seconds after Herola with the second-fastest time of the day.
In the absence of still recovering Eero Hirvonen, youngster Perttu Reponen had his big break with the third rank in ski jumping (112.8 p.), a position he managed to defend until the finish line (+2:01.0). Otto Niittykoski, Waltteri Karhumaa and Leevi Mutru ranked fourth to sixth, and Korean guest Je-Un Park finished his competition on the seventh place.
In the U-18 ranking, Rasmus Ähtävä won the competitions clearly, finishing two minutes and 56 seconds ahead of Jarkko Lankinen. Ivar Thors claimed position three, finishing +4:53 after the winner.
This year’s summer championships featured a U-18 competition for girls for the first time and Alva Thors claimed the title ahead of Annamajia Oinas. Even though Thors had started her race 50 seconds after Oinas after the jumping event, she eventually beat her opponent by 17 seconds after the 5 km race.
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