The Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina concluded on Sunday, but the skiing World Cups are set to continue this weekend. Finnish skier Iivo Niskanen made headlines after his decision to withdraw from the men's 50-kilometer race last Saturday. Despite being a prominent figure in Finnish skiing, his absence from the national team as they head to Sweden for the World Cup is notable, especially coupled with Krista Pärmäkoski's absence, one of the leading female athletes, from the events.

In Falun, Sweden, the skiing competitions will kick off with freestyle sprints on Saturday and continues with the 20-kilometer combined events on Sunday. Meanwhile, history is anticipated to be made on Friday with the first-ever ski flying competition for men taking place in Austria's Kulm. This represents an exciting development for the sport as ski flying is a spectacular and highly anticipated format of ski jumping. The women's World Cup will resume in Lahti only next week, which allows for some anticipation from fans and athletes alike regarding the upcoming competitions.

Additionally, the Finnish Ski Federation has announced that Lasse Moilanen will act as the head coach for the men's ski jumping teams during the World Cup events at Kulm and Lahti. Meanwhile, the head coach Igor Medved is currently not on the team due to ongoing discussions regarding his role. This situation creates an atmosphere of uncertainty within the team, leaving fans to speculate about the implications for Finnish skiing performance going forward, especially with such significant upcoming championships.