Junior Topi Raitanen on par with the seniors
Posted on | October 4, 2015 | Category: Arena
Topi Raitanen had a big responsibility on his shoulders today. He’s not a senior at all, but he had an important leg on the Finnish first team.
Topi, who become junior world champion on the relay at JWOC in Norway in July, had the second leg on the Finnish first team in the relay. Sofia Haajanen had the first leg and she did what the Finns expected. She was among the very best and changed over at fourth place.
So it was up to Topi, who has one year left as a junior.
– It went well, but Matthias Kyburz was too strong for me, he says.
But the Finn can really be satisfied. He passed this year’s overall World Cup winner during the race.
– It was good to run from Daniel Hubmann, he smiles.
Topi really did the work.
After him ran Mårten Boström, world champion on sprint, two years ago. He held the position and so it was up to Merja Rantanen.
– I felt pressure, but I mostly ran well, she smiles.
She finished with her arms up in the air and was met by her teammates just after finishing. They were all so happy. The Finns finally got good results in Arosa.
For Topi and the junior team there is hardly time for celebrating at all. He is going for new adventures.
– Now I am going directly to a Finnish junior camp here in Switzerland. We are preparing for JWOC next year, which takes place in the Engadin region not so far from Arosa.
And finally Merja could also really smile for a good, incredible race. Two days ago she had to smile because she had made so many mistakes. In the relay it was a smile for success.
Text and photo: Erik Borg
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