The new leader of the Olympic Committee’s elite sports unit will be announced in the next few days, Tuesday at the earliest. According to Kati Lehtonen, the leading researcher at the Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences, this is the number one issue of domestic elite sports politics.
The recruitment process for the director of the new elite sports unit is nearing its end, and the future director will be announced on Tuesday at the earliest. CEO of the Finnish Olympic Committee Taina Susiluoto told Urheilu that the decision is to be discussed with the board of the Olympic Committee in the coming days.
The position of the head of the Olympic Committee’s elite sports unit became open for application on May 13. One and a half months after the former head of the unit Mika Lehtimäki resigned from the position.
A total of 17 people applied for the position of director. According to Urheilu, there were five people in the last round of recruitment.
It has been suggested that a former top skier is in the running for the new director Matti Heikkinena former race walker Valentin Kononenbasketball coach Henrik Dettmannformer executive director of the Finnish Ski Association Mika Kulmala and a hockey coach Antti Pennanen.
However, it is possible that some of the individuals have withdrawn from the recruitment process.
The task of the elite sports unit is to create operational conditions and lead and coordinate Finnish elite sports. According to Susiluoto, the director is also expected to understand the international requirements of sports.
– We are looking for a person who would be a value leader of the new era and who would have the ability to lead a top sports network and make our top sports an international success, Susiluoto said.
The leading researcher of Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences Kati Lehtonen according to this, it is the number one sport in top sports when we talk about public sports policy.
– The most important task is to lead the sports network and be its face. The person is the operational manager of the unit and thus one part of the whole, Lehtonen described.
– I would also think about being exemplary, because we are in a significant position, so yes, one big aspect is to advance elite sports in society and as a topic of social discussion.
“Nothing would have been in a hurry”
According to Susiluoto, the most important indicators for success in the task are success in Olympic sports, success in sports in general and the development of professionalism. In addition, the Ministry of Education and Culture has set certain goals for elite sports.
– At the moment we are getting to know each other and going through it carefully. It is a major work of many researchers. After the holidays, we go through the observations and with the top sports network we go through it in the fall. I believe that there will be new development sites, Susiluoto said.
Lehtonen was one of the authors of the external evaluation. He highlights the rush surrounding the selection and feels that the results of the evaluations are not studied very closely, because recruitments are made all the time.
– As if this spring’s crisis situation would have been a good place to rethink and stop to think about the things that have been done here in ten years, because nothing would have been rushed.
According to Lehtonen, the unit and acting as temporary director Leena Paavolainen would have been able to make routine decisions. He feels that it would have been interesting to know how the results of the evaluation would have been reacted in terms of recruitment.
– But now it seems that salaries are being continued as if nothing had happened.
Lehtonen reminds that athletes have been able to play sports in the past without an elite sports unit and its leader.
– You have to constantly think about what the added value of this system is. The head of the elite sports unit is of course a significant public position and that name is interesting and should be interesting, but of course I would like the person to be chosen to reflect on what the importance of their own activities for Finnish elite sports is in the end, Lehtonen emphasizes.
Lehtonen feels that it has been unclear in the recruitment process whether the elite sports unit is looking for a coaching manager or a social discussant of elite sports. According to him, it would be important to think about things in order to keep the system viable.
– In a way, we are looking for some kind of “super leader”, but it is also related to this time, where we are very interested in personality and one person does and solves everything, even though it is not like that.
Medals are not a valid measure
Triple Jumper Kristiina Mäkelä describes the leader of an elite sports unit as a person who shows in which direction elite sports is going and knows through experience what elite sports is and what it needs.
– Of course, this is a very diverse role. You must also have the ability to understand the whole picture. There can never be a situation where there isn’t something to improve, so it’s important to move the sport forward and renew it.
Head coach of the Finnish national skiing team Teemu Pasanen emphasizes the new manager’s expertise. Pasanen sees the head of the elite sports unit as an especially important partner, even though close cooperation takes place through the sports group manager.
– You have to understand elite sports and of course you have to deal with many sports, understand what elite sports are and what are the important things, Pasanen estimates.
According to Mäkelä, an important measure of success is the satisfaction of the athletes. Both Pasanen and Mäkelä do not consider medals and success to be the best measure.
– Of course, the goal is to succeed, and then the medals are the measure, but perhaps the most important thing would be to evaluate how we succeed as a whole, Pasanen reflected.
Mäkelä is asking the future leader for the conditions to implement top sports.
– Sports success doesn’t really tell everything, but the best measure is how satisfied the athletes are, Mäkelä emphasizes.
– There will always be things that we disagree on and there will always be difficult situations, but the fact that the life of an athlete is really possible and meaningful, then we also get that success, Mäkelä sums up.