Ilkka Tuomisto: My season highlights

The Finnish Nordic skier picks three key moments from the 2017 season. 10 May 2017
Imagen
Ilkka Tuomisto of Finland and Dexin Zhou of China compete in the Men's Cross Country 10km Free Standing at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games.

Ilkka Tuomisto #80 of Finland and Dexin Zhou #63 of China compete in the Men's Cross Country 10km Free Standing at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games.

ⒸGetty Images
By Tim Norris | For the IPC

The 2016-17 season kicked off in Vuokatti in December and expectations were high for Ilkka Tuomisto, one of Finland’s top skiers, in front of his home crowd.

But he performed well with two podiums, setting the tone for an impressive year of skiing ahead of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Paralympic Games.

Tuomisto finished third in the men’s standing World Cup rankings, improving from a fourth placed finish the season before and won a silver medal at the World Championships in Finsterau, Germany.

He shares his memorable moments from the season.

Best result

“My best result was in the World Championships where I won a silver medal. This was a big thing for me and everything went well on the day.”

Opportunities outside of skiing

“Looking at my home life, I started some new work on our farm. We look after cattle and also produce a variety of organic grains. My father helps me with the farm while I’m training.”

New venues

“Last year, we had three new countries to race in – Ukraine, South Korea and Japan. I enjoyed visiting all of these countries. While I’d been to Japan before, I hadn’t raced there. Every venue has its own special things.”

The Paralympic Winter Games will take place in PyeongChang, South Korea, from 9-18 March 2018.