I really don't know should we laugh or cry. Probably better laugh...
I have not much faith for this season any more. Matti may very well have few good or even excellent competitions more. If one of the execellent ones happened to be at Oslo, it would be super, but... With Rane I'm slowly loosing hope. he will probably get better before Oslo, but to be honest, he has not shown even one execellent jump whole season. Anssi is stable and doing better than I dared to hope, but I'm afraid this is his maximum level at least for this season (and when his weaknesses are said to be on flying, not in physique or table technique... well... that is often more difficult to better even in time being...) Olli may have some unused potential, but it will take time. For Kalle I unfortunately don't believe a lot. Even Jupe's best jumps are not good enough for WC.
Havu is total mystery. Yes, physically he is fit, yes, he has trained well (on the hill he knows very well, probably only in good conditions), but still. He has had two major injuries in short time. Very few competitions in three years. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm afraid he will not be a saving angel he is expected to be.
And even if we forget this season. Then there is a next one, and after that one more year and then Olympics. MÀÀttÀ, Saapunki etc. are still very young at Sotshi. Niemi has done better this season than last, but his development has been very, very slow many years now. There probably is that great talent that was detected years ago somewhere in him still. But can it be turned to top jumper? Larinto of course did great this season until he fell. But the injury he has, even though the operation was successful, is one of the infamous career-enders for jumping sports. And you never know, if the knee will heal totally before the recovery is finished. And that kind of injury also makes havoc for jumper's head. Many have never been the same after those even though physically nothing is wrong. And Ville was not considered especially foolhardy or daring jumper even before the accident.
Then of course there is also Harri. But no one probably knows how things will turn with him. He certainly has the talent, the skill and the daredevil attitude to be on the absolute top. But he himself really has to be ready to work for it, and Finnjumping and national team will also need to really want it and put enough resources in him to make it happen. Swim or sink approach doesn't work with him. To make it, he would need much stronger support.
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