The Estonian cross-country skiing champions over the 10 km freestyle distance were announced on Sunday in Otepää and, while some skiers are now waiting for the break from competitions, the juniors are preparing for the world championships, which are about to begin.
Martin Himma won the men’s race on Sunday, beating Kaarel Kasper Kõrge by 1.9 seconds after 10km. While Himmat and Kõrge now have a short break from competitions, several Estonian skiers are preparing for the junior and under-23 world championships which start in Planica in two weeks.
One of Estonia’s biggest hopes is sprinter Karl Sebastian Dremljuga, who took 17th place in the freestyle event. “The goal is to reach the semi-finals there and above all to try to enjoy the last year there. We definitely want to take part in the distance race and hopefully we can get the team together too,” said the young sprinter.
“First of all the emphasis was on training and this weekend the main objective was to do a light deload. Now we have to recover a little and then deal with freshness and speed,” added Dremljuga.
The twin sisters Kaidy and Keidy Kaasik have the greatest prerequisites for achieving good results. In Sunday’s free technique competition, Kaidy became the champion of Estonia, beating Keidy by 11.5 seconds. Teesi Tuul earned bronze. This trio clearly stood out from the rest over the weekend.
At the start of the season, the teammates’ coach, Jaanus Teppan, believed that a medal was possible in his age group’s title competitions. The leader of the Estonian ski team Aivar Rehemaa, who has recovered from a serious accident, shares the optimism.
“It can be very real. Yes, I hope equally that a medal is quite possible. If everything works out, why not? And that’s a pretty strong word, if the U-23 [EM-ilt] come home with a medal,” Rehemaa said.
The Estonians are preparing for the Junior and Under-23 World Cup in Planica, Slovenia, at the Ramsau camp. Rehemaa singled out Ralf Kivil and Toni Andree Saarepuu among the juniors participating in the competition.
2024-01-21 20:07:00
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