MONTE BONDONE – Freestyle skiing often rewards the most daring tricks, but sometimes it pays to stick to what you know. For Finnish freestyle skier and Universiade gold medallist, Kalle Leinonen, this was certainly the case.
“I stuck to the tricks I knew”, said Leinonen. “There is no point doing anything crazy at this point in the year. I just wanted to go with the old tricks to see where it gets me, and I got the result.”
It may seem strange that a conservative approach won the gold medal, but for the skier there was little choice. The only time he has managed to jump this season had been the warm up in Monte Bondone, which left him little choice. “This is my third day skiing park this season, but I managed to ski a lot on rails in Finland so that is good practice as well”, he added.
Unlike many of the other athletes the remainder of the season for Leinonen will not focus on competition. “I will spend the majority of the year filming; back in Finland we are making a two year ski film project. We are filming mostly in the streets and some backcountry – mainly doing things that most people do not do.”
This in fact not unusual for many skiers, who see the ‘ski park’ as a way of progressing to more adventurous terrain. “Park is a good facility to train and learn new tricks, but for filming I prefer urban environments”, explains the Finn.
Toby Fisher, FISU Young Reporter
