Jimi Salonen wasn’t expected to be in the medal conversation in men’s moguls in the freestyle skiing programme at Beijing 2022.
But he now has the chance to cause one of the upsets of the Games and win one of the first medals on offer. Beijing 2022 represents Salonen’s third Olympic Games appearance after he finished in 18th place at Sochi 2014 and 16th at PyeongChang 2018.
After the first qualification run completed, Salonen finished in fourth overall with a score of 76.39, just two points off France’s Benjamin Cavet (78.40) and not far behind Sweden’s Walter Wallberg (79.12) and Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury in first (81.15). He’ll be joined by team-mate Olli Penttala, who was ninth with 75.95 points.
“My first run was good,” Salonen said. “Good, not perfect. I tried to go fast and clean.”
Construction worker and mascot keeper
Salonen, who is also a construction worker, made his international debut at the 2011 World Cup in Ruka. He has been tasked with an important job while at Beijing 2022: taking care of Team Finland’s beloved stuffed animal mascot.
The 27-year-old hails from Muurame, where his hero, 2006 Olympic silver medallist and two-time world champion freestyle skier Mikko Ronkainen, is also from.
He’s had to overcome adversity, too. Salonen had to have knee surgery in April of 2020 but now he’s hoping to be a part of Finland’s proud history of winning a medal at every edition of the Winter Olympics since the inaugural edition in 1924.
Will it be a case of third time’s a charm for Salonen to get on the podium on Saturday? You’ll just have to watch along with the rest of Finland to find out.
Keep up with all the action in our Live Blog updates throughout Beijing 2022, here.
Jimi Salonen of Team Finland trains at Genting Snow Park