A long, competition-filled weekend in Italy has come to an end!
From September 12th to 15th, we participated in the Roller Ski World Championships in Ziano Di Femmes, Italy. On the first day, Thursday, we had the 15km race with a mass start scheduled. The weather was not cooperating that day, and it rained all day long. Kaidy felt much better than Keidy, but we managed to fight for solid 7th and 9th places. On Friday, we didn’t participate in the sprint competition because we rested and focused on the Team Sprint event scheduled for Saturday. When we woke up on the competition day Saturday, our feelings were reversed – Kaidyl was feeling worse while Keidyl was feeling better. Before the start, we did a proper warm-up to prepare our bodies for the upcoming Team Sprint. The starting gun went off, with Kaidy starting first. For the first three laps, we were able to ski with the group, but then we created a small gap and had to race solo for the rest of the competition. The result was a solid 4th place, which we can be quite satisfied with.
Sunday marked the last day of the competition, featuring the classic 15km race with a mass start. The first kilometers of the distance took place in the city on a 2.5km loop, followed by flat terrain, a slight downhill, and the last 4km, which required only uphill skiing. There were attempts to speed up and break away from the group, but they were in vain—the group remained fairly together until the start of the ascent. At the beginning of the climb, it became challenging for many, and the group gradually shrank. We stayed nicely in the middle of the pack. About 500m before the finish, an Italian skier began to accelerate, and we followed her, with Keidy falling slightly behind but still hopeful for a medal fight. Approximately 50m before the finish, Keidy saw the back of the Italian skier and gave it her all, ultimately winning third place ahead of her. The results were 2nd place for Kaidy and 3rd place for Keidy. With the silver and bronze medals, we capped off our competitions in Italy beautifully!
Coach Jaanus’s summary of the recent World Championship:
The first distance was run in heavy rain, which didn’t provide a clear overview since much was dependent on luck. In the relay sprint, Kaidy had a tough moment, resulting in him falling behind the group, and it was necessary to see today's—i.e., the final day's—competition to understand the actual condition. Most participants come to the World Championship having specifically prepared for it. For us, it's still an intermediate stage in winter preparation to see if there are any drastic changes needed in the plans. I knew our training was good and that Kaidy and Keidy were capable of competing for medals. In the final race, the main group was all together in the city circuit, and then uncertainty arose because I had to reach the lift with the car, and I could only follow the rest of the race on my phone, where I saw the checkpoint times, with both of them still in the group. When I reached the finish area, I was also in the dark, arriving just barely 3 minutes before the girls finished. That was actually how it was supposed to go, and a pleasant surprise was that both were competing for first place. The summer World Cup loss to Sömskar had been reduced to 1.2 seconds.
