|
Finland's King of the Hill
by Mervi Varonen
Headlines Magazine
Helsinki , Finland
 As an Olympics first-timer, Kalle Palander appeared with
green hair before the crowds in Nagano Winter games in 1998.
The 22-year-old member of Finland's alpine ski team performed
superbly and finished 9th in his favorite sport, the slalom.
Little did he or anyone else know that the next year he would
be standing on the podium's top level in the World Championships.
Palander was drawn to downhill skiing at the age of four
like most of the neighborhood kids up north in Tornio in
Finnish Lapland. He began competing at 11 and won his first
local race two
years later.
After graduating from Ruka Alpine High School in 1998 and
serving his military service thereafter, the slalom specialist
became a familiar face on the international alpine circuit
and FIS World Cup events.
The 1999 season was a sensation. Coached by his father Jouni
Palander and Finland's alpine head coach Christian Leitner.
Kalle Palander broke the bank in the World Championship in
Vail, Colorado and won gold in slalom with two perfect runs.
Prior to this, his best ever placing at international level
was 4th in the Junior World Championships in 1996.
Kalle Palander achieved his
FIS World Cup overall men's slalom trophy in Lillehammer
in 2003. |
Palander may have started a new era in Finland's slalom
history by taking the first ever podium standing, but his
own career was soon drifting downhill. He had hard times
coping with the new, shorter carving skis and 2000-2001 was
disappointing. He crashed out in the St. Anton World Championships
and ended the season with World Cup rankings of 31 in slalom
and 83 overall.
Aware of the risks of the trade, Palander was confident
enough not to give in to setbacks. Though he failed at the
Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002, the season showed signs
of better times to come. He stormed into the top ten on several
occasions and reached 4th place in the Adelboden World Cup.
The outcome of the season was 6th in slalom and 28th in overall
cup standings.
Finally, in January 2003, the 25-year-old
Palander made a comeback in a grand way. He won his and
Finland's first ever FIS World Cup event in Kitzbühel, the Mecca of
the alpine world. Leading from the first run, he disappointed
the local audience leaving Austrians Rainer Schönfelder
and Heinz Schilchegger behind.
After winning the next cup race in Schladming by an impressive
margin of 1.31 seconds, Palander suddenly found himself second
behind Croatian Ivica Kostelic in the World Cup and among
the medal candidates at the FIS Alpine World Championships
in St. Moritz starting in February 2003. Kostelic took the
slalom world champ title, while Palander finished 6th, but
the battle for the Cup was still open.
In South Korea Palander was again triumphant and took his
third World Cup win in a row, while Kostelic was 15th. This
meant the final two competitions in Japan and Norway would
be crucial to determine the cup winner.
Palander's aggressive skiing style resulted
in an amazing fourth straight victory in Japan, which moved
him ahead of Kestelic. The final seal on the FIS World Cup
overall Men's slalom trophy came in Lillehammer as Palander
secured his win with 2nd place, while Kostelic wound up 7th.
Kalle Palander started his 2003-2004 snow
season in Switzerland in July with only one goal in his mind:
to hang on to the leader's red vest. Although he is in the
limelight, Palander has managed to retain the charm of the
boy next door. For him, Finland is still the best place in
the world - and the top woman in his life remains his mother.
Article reprinted with permission from Headlines, Summer
2003
|
710
Remington Road 
Volume
13 Issue 2 -
December 2003