"The best position in
years": Estonian team ready for Olympics
Estonian Nordic Combined Team 2013/14
- Estonian Ski Federation
After head coach Tambet Pikkor and his team presented
the plans for the season at a press conference in
Tallinn earlier in October, the last training camps
are now in full swing and everybody is getting ready
for the Olympic season.
"We can look towards the new season from the
best position in years. We can start in the World
Cup with four athletes", head coach Pikkor
stated. "We are still working on getting the
qualifications so we can send four plus two athletes
to Sochi." Next to the Olympic highlight, team
youngster Kristijan Ilves will take part in the
Junior World Championships which take place in Val
di Fiemme from the 27th of January to the 2nd or
February. Competitions in which the 16-year-old
who already claimed a bronze medal in Liberec last
season will be a force to be reckoned with.
The team was also able to attract another sponsor
who will round out the full package of sponsors
already on board, showing the growing interest in
the sport of Nordic Combined in Estonia. "We
decided to support the team in Nordic Combined because
of its dedicated work with young athletes whose
development and preparation for the Olympic games
we can contribute to now. Estonia had two top contestants
in this sport years ago and we hope that the youngsters
can reach the same level again", CEO Andres
Matkur of the new sponsor explained the initiative.
For the team, the remaining time until the season
start was well used. Around the 28th and 29th of
October, a jumping camp in Planica was on schedule
and the athletes took the change to visit the factories
of equipment manufacturers Elan, Dali and Slatnar
which are located in a 30 km radius in Slovenia.
From the 29th of October until the 10th of November,
the team lived and trained in Val Senales at an
altitude of 2000 metres and went up to the glacier
at 3000 metres for the special kind of boost which
altitude training can give to athletes. Directly
after this period two more days of jumping training
in the ice track at Oberstdorf were on schedule.
Roomet Pikkor, manager for Ski Jumping and Nordic
Combined at the Estonian Ski Federation is confident
that the efforts will pay off: "With the newly
acquired confidence of the last season, our Olympic
team will be a strong one given the opportunities
we had for quality preparation and fulfilling the
athletic goals. Hopefully the winter will verify
that the boys have developed well and will to able
to compete in the top level."