Kasperi and Rasmus Vehmaa are going to Jerusalem for the under-18 European Championships, and based on the statistics, a medal is worth waiting for.
10:22•Updated 10:38
A year ago at the Kaleva Games Kasperi Vehmaa jumped into the sports news headlines. In the darkening evening in Tampere, at the Ratina stadium, Kasperi scored 749 in the last round of the long jump competition and took the lead.
– Some people came to congratulate them before the last jumps and I think I told them that hopefully someone will jump by. A mere medal would have been enough for the 16-year-old, Kasper’s father Janne Vehmaa remembers.
Five jumpers still went on the plank, but Kasper’s lead remained, and the confused young man went to win the adult Finnish championship. Left behind were, among other things, champions who had been to the European Championships.
– That was a tough thing. The gold was received with joy and the boy took it well.
However, Kasperi is not the only Vehmaa who is still heard about on the athletics fields.
Big sister Essin20, his strongest sports are long and 100-meter hurdles, where he won the Finnish championship for 19-22-year-olds last year.
– The competitions are of a really tough standard. New hard runners emerge from the chutes all the time. Peaks are inspiring, Essi says about the rapid fence boom.
Kasper’s twin brother Rasmus ran the hurdles a couple of weeks ago with a time of 13.44, which even gets you to the top places in the world statistics. The fence height of 17-year-olds is 15 centimeters lower than that of adults, so of course the results cannot be completely compared to the times of the adult series.
– It feels good to see that the best are doing well at the world level and I would like to be number one. This is where the work just begins, says Rasmus.
Hard competition already at home
Vehmaa’s triathlon began already in their home yard. Led by Essi, the children ran around the house and the competition was intense right from the start.
– I think I was or tried to be the boss quite often. Of course, the brothers fought quite a lot and I got to stand in between, Essi recalls.
Father Janne, who also raced himself, coached the Lappeenranta Sports Men’s team, so it was natural to move from his home yard to the legendary Kimpinen field.
Over the years, a lot of time has been spent in Kimpinen and the blue tracks have become even more familiar.
– You could call this a second home. It’s always nice to compete here and it’s always nice to come here. If you come here with bad feelings, you leave here with good feelings, says Rasmus.
Even though the sport has moved from the backyard to bigger circles, family is still important.
– The family has been an inspiration for competitions, because we are so competitive and have always competed. And of course also support and security, Essi says
It is appropriate to expect success from the European Championships
Training and school fill the days effectively. Kasperi says that there is still time for friends and playtime. Essi is a recent high school student, and the boys, like many young athletes, plan to finish high school in four years.
When asked about their goals, the trio gives different answers. Everyone’s direction is upward, but Rasmus more openly than others expresses his wish to run in the Olympic Games. The year would be either 2028 or 2032.
The twin boys will get to measure themselves against athletes from other countries at the under-18 European Championship held in Jerusalem next week.
The medal is worth waiting for, because Rasmus is second in Europe in the statistics and Kasper is fourth in height.
In the Kaleva Games, Kasper jumped to the gold in front of thousands of people and admits that the audience is fired up.
– Yes, it always brings its own atmosphere and cheer to the race and to other things, when the audience is cheering along.
It is good to hope that the Givat Ram stadium in Jerusalem will be full of spectators.