Pauli Siitonen

Pauli Siitonen 1972

Pauli Siitonen (born February 3, 1938 in Simpele , Finland ) is a former Finnish cross-country skier .

Siitonen, a police officer from Helsinki , experienced his sporting climax at an old age for a competitive athlete. He celebrated his greatest successes at the König-Ludwig-Lauf in Oberammergau , which he won a total of six times in 1974, 1976 to 1979 and 1981. In 1973 he won the Wasalauf , which celebrated its 50th anniversary that year.

Pauli Siitonen is known for the Siitonen step named after him , which became the most important pioneer of modern skating technology . This is a half- skating step in which one ski glides in the track of the trail while the other is sheared sideways. In the mid-1970s, Siitonen applied this step to popular runs over longer distances and made it known. The imitators of Siitonens named this technique after him. In Scandinavia, however, it took a long time for this name to gain acceptance, possibly because such a revolutionary innovation did not meet with unanimous approval from classic cross-country skiers.

Siitonen is often referred to as the inventor of the step named after him, but this is most likely inaccurate. On the one hand, half ice skating steps and ice skating steps were part of the technique of racers even before 1970 in the final sprint and when changing direction. In addition, as early as 1971 at the Holmenkollenlauf, Gerhard Grimmer demonstrated in the most difficult wax conditions how one could manage a three-kilometer climb with upper arm strength and one-sided skating step without overgrowning, which had meanwhile become wet and thus with the correct climbing wax at the beginning of the competition no longer allowed an impression in the track. He won the competition by a clear margin. Siitonen, who grew overgrown in this competition and at that time did not yet use the technique later named after him, came fourth.

In 1965 and 1966 Siitonen won the bronze medal at the Finnish orienteering championships on the ultra long distance.

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Egon Theiner, Chris Karl: Cross-country skiing: history, culture, practice . Page 53, Verlag Die Werkstatt, Göttingen 2002, ISBN 3-89533-371-9
2. ↑ www.vasaloppet.se: History. Unique races. ( Memento from March 5, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
3. ↑ ^{a b} Ulricht Wenger, Franz Wöllzenmüller: Cross-country skiing: classic technique and skating . Page 10ff, sportinform Verlag, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-8254-0423-4
4. ↑ Suunnistuksen SM-tilasto kolumbus.fi

Web links

• Elke Wittich: History of skiing with boards and rabbit ears. In: Jungle World. No. 8, February 11, 2004