Taivainen – Best at the start and end of the season
Posted on | March 18, 2010 | Category: Arena
Olli-Markus Taivainen likes it tough, and for a long time he had been looking forward to the last demanding race in the World Cup, the ultra-long distance. He ended up winning the race, just as he did in the first two races in the World Cup season.
The Young Finn is in his first year as a senior and will be 21 years old on May 2nd. When he started on the last of the four laps in the ultra-long distance, he was together with his team-mate Staffan Tunis and Eduard Khrennikov, Russia. –I felt strong and wanted to push hard so my competitors became more tired, he says.
It was a mass start race, and Olli-Markus stayed for a long time behind his team-mate and the Russian.
–I had cramp when the last loop started, and I just hoped to have some power when we came to the finish, says Staffan Tunis, who finished second, just 1.1 seconds behind the winner.
From three to two
On the long loop the three in front became two. The Finns took a big skating track while Eduard Khrennikov used smaller tracks and lost time on that. On the way to the finish it was very close, but Olli-Markus was in front all the way. –I had no power to pass Olli-Markus, says Staffan.
Olli-Markus started the season with two wins in Russia. So why haven’t the results been like that the whole season?
–I don’t really know why I didn’t do better during the middle of the season, he says.
Orienteering the whole year
Olli-Markus will compete next week in the CISM Winter Military World Games in Italy, where he will meet again the World Cup overall winner, Eduard Khrennikov, as well as the World Cup relay winner Eivind Tonna, Norway.
After the ski orienteering season, Olli-Markus is looking forward to the foot orienteering races.
–My goal is both a World Cup start with the European Championships in Bulgaria where it is steep and tough, and the World Championships in Trondheim, he says. His preparations for the summer season have already started. He had been to a training camp in a forest without snow before the races in Ånn in Sweden.
Photo: Erik Borg
Olli Markus Taivainen wins the ultra-long distance with Staffan Tunis following just a few metres behind.
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