28.11.2008

Nordic Tournament Is One of the Highlights of the Ski Jumping Season

The chief of the organizing committee of the Lahti Ski Games, Ilkka Tiilikainen tells, that Nordic Tournament has been organized as cooperation of the Finnish and Norvegian Ski Assosiation since 1997. Tournament consists of four competitions and it is one of the highlights of the season in the spring. After the Tournament only World Cup finals in Planica are scheduled in the calendar.

In addition to the normal World Cup price money, the top three athletes of the Tournament recieve extra prices. The winner gets 25 000 euros, the second 15 000 euros and the third 10 000 euros. The combined points of all four competitions decide the rankings.

“One might say that this is a younger version of the Four Hills Tournament. We are constantly developing the Tournament to make it more interesting to the audience at site and at home as well as for the media. Nordic countries have long traditions in Ski Jumping, so a great athmosphere is guaranteed at every competition site”, Tiilikainen says.

Ski Fying Hill in Vikersund is the Climax of the Nordic Tournament

Nordic Tournament consists of two competitions in Finland (Lahti 8.3.2009 and Kuopio 10.3.) and two competitions in Norway (Lillehammer 13.3. and Vikersund 15.3.). The traditional hill in Oslo is currently being renovated and it is replaced by the Ski Flying hill in Vikersund. A Ski Flying event is a part of the Nordic Tournament for the first time and Tiilikainen believes, that it will be a special climax for the Tournament.

 "Ski Flying is always something special for both the athletes and the audience. It surely will bring an extra interest to the Tournament. I don’t think it will affect the total results, good athletes perform well in both big hills and in Ski Flying hills”, Tiilikainen tells.

Cooperation between the organizers works well

To make the work of the atheletes, other team members and media representatives easier, the accreditation for the whole Tournament is done in Lahti. Traveling between the locations is done mainly by buses. Wednesday is a traveling day, when the participants fly from Kuopio via Helsinki to Oslo and travel from there by buses to Lilllehammer.

“Transportation and other arrangements are working very well. All organziesers work actively together with all the event preparations as well as with marketing”, Tiilikainen points out.