Lauri Hakola new head coach of the Finnish team

Lauri Hakola, who was working with the Finnish national team as the assistant of head coach Andreas Mitter over the past years, will now be the successor of the Austrian.

The 38-year-old Finn has a contract for two years, with an option to extend it for two more years. His main goal now is to centralize the training in order to use all available resources in the most effective way. As part of this effort, the national team shall mainly train in Kuopio from now on. "This gives the athletes the chance to work mainly with the coaching staff of the national team. In addition, there will be a cooperation with the sports academy of the Kuopio region which provides good training conditions and offers the possibility of a dual career", Lauri Hakola is quoted on the website of the Finnish Ski Association.

"This spring we were working hard to ensure the future of Ski Jumping in Finland. It is great that Lauri Hakola will now become the head coach. In the upcoming weeks we now want to build a team of coaches and other experts, who will support Lauri in his job", said the CEO of the Finnish Ski Association, Mika Kulmala.

With Antti Aalto, Eetu Nousiainen, Jarkko Maeaettae and Andreas Alamommo, four athletes were named to the Finnish A-Team for the 2018/19 season. Kalle Heikkinen, Henri Kavilo, Niko Kytoesaho and Niko Loeytaeinen are on the B-Team. A fifth athlete will be named later. Five-time 4-Hills-Tournament winner Janne Ahonen and Ville Larinto are currently not on the teams for the upcoming season. According to media reports, it is not clear yet, whether these two athletes will continue their careers.

"There is now a real generation change within the teams. All athletes are young, motivated and eager to develop", said Lauri Hakola.