Finnish free skier competes sleeveless for this interesting reason

LIVIGNO — Kuura Koivisto did not need permission to send invites to the gun show at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. 

The free skier from Finland went sleeveless during Saturday’s slopestyle qualifiers, in which he finished 14th of 29. The top 12 advanced to Tuesday’s finals, and he came 0.18 away from placing 12th. 

While the wardrobe decision may have appeared to be attention-seeking, it was actually quite the opposite, Koivisto said. Rocking the black tanktop was purely performance-related and had nothing to do with going viral. He would have skied in his hoodie if he felt he was fast enough. Competition first, comfortability second, he said.

“Speed issues for me. Just trying to limit the wind resistance, and hopefully get a tan at the same time,” he joked.

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Finnish skier goes sleeveless at Olympics

The weather was a balmy 31 degrees during the competition, but the sunshine that has soaked the Italian Alps during the daytime this week has made it feel warmer. 

It might have been the nerves, but he was warm all day, from the practice runs to the second qualifying run. Koivisto also skied sleeveless at last year’s world championships, he said.

“In the training, I was sweating a lot and it was fogging up my goggles,” Koivisto said.

He added: “I could have skied in my under layer, but I thought this was a little cooler.”

According to International Olympic Committee rules, competitors merely need their bib to be facing forward (without violating any other apparel rules). American Nick Goepper, who competes in the men’s halfpipe, has said it’s his dream to compete in jeans one day.

Koivisto would have preferred a faster course over the past three days, which included two days of practice before the qualifying rounds. Many competitors noted that the course slowed down from the early afternoon to the end of the competition, which made gathering speed for the three giant jumps at the bottom of the course difficult.

“I’d rather take my hoodie off than my pants,” he said.

It might have been the nerves, but he was warm all day, from the practice runs to the second qualifying run.

Koivisto originally wore a bottom layer and t-shirt, but made the decision to go sleeveless following his third training run.

“I’m a little bummed right now, because it was super small mistakes that made the difference of me not making (finals),” he said. “I have to look back at my run because I haven’t seen it yet. And honestly, I kind of only remember the mistakes.”

Everyone who watched Koivisto will remember him for something else.