Urheilu’s expert Jaakko Ojaniemi believes that Eveliina Määttänen will give Sara Kuivisto a great help in the 800 meters at the Kaleva Games in Joensuu this weekend.
shows Kaleva’s competitions on TV2, Areena and Puhee. The competitions will be held in Joensuu on August 4–7.
JOENSUU. The athletics Kaleva Games are especially important this summer for those athletes for whom the World Championships were a disappointment or whose early season has been challenging.
The top Finnish athletes have their sights set on the European Championships in Munich starting on August 15, and the Kaleva Games will give a clear indication of the athlete’s condition.
Sports expert Jaakko Ojaniemi highlights three Finnish European Championship final hopes, for whom the Kaleva Games have a particularly big weight this year.
Sara Kuivisto gets a dream opponent
Last season, the Finnish records in both the 800 meters and the one-ton shot put Sara Kuivisto the beginning of 2022 went with health problems, but the sled seems to have finally turned in the right direction.
Kuivisto opened his summer season a little over a week ago in Jyväskylä with a pretty good time of 4:12.47 in 1,500 meters. That’s ten seconds behind the SE time. At the weekend in Sweden, Kuivisto ran 800 meters with a time of 2:02.00.
Ojaniemi believes that Kuivisto still has a good chance of hitting hard at the European Championships.
This is helped by the fact that at the Kaleva Games, Kuivisto gets excellent turners – unlike in recent years, when Kuivisto has completely spent his own expenses in the WC Games.
at 800 meters Eveliina Määttänen is the running sensation of the summer with a time of 2:01.14.
– It will be a really interesting race. Kuivisto can’t run to make sure, because Määttänen has been so strong. It’s a really good thing for Sara, thinking about the European Championships, that there is opposition in Joensuu.
At 1,500 meters, Kuivisto gets a tough challenge About Nathalie Blomqvist.
– This will surely be Kuivisto’s last hard training before the European Championships. He still has a good chance of getting in good shape. There are good seams for the EC final, Ojaniemi underlines.
Raitanen is looking for success before the European Championships
Steeplechase Top with Stripe has such a kiri ability that with a good run he is even a medal candidate in the EC final.
However, the collapse of the World Cup created a big pile of question marks. Raitanen clearly ran his worst time of the season and said that he suffered from strange stomach problems all summer.
For Raitase, the start of the Kaleva Games is extremely important. According to Ojaniemi, Raitanen must run a good race alone. Raitanen can hardly get any competitors in the 3,000-meter hurdles. Eemil Helander has not registered for the race.
– There is probably no opposition to Raitase. Raitanen is certainly looking for ease and plans a travel pace that suits him. This is like a “check race” to see how running feels.
– If Raitanen runs an easy run around 8:30, it would make promises for the European Championships, Ojaniemi reflects.
Hurske needs an intact run
Quick beeper Reetta Hurske didn’t get the result he wanted on the World Cup stage in Oregon. In the 100-meter hurdles WC semi-final, he knocked over the fences, finishing with a time of 13.15.
– The default value was that Hurske was in good shape at the World Championships, says Ojaniemi.
Hurske’s season best is 12.88. When Nooralotta Neziri and Annimari Korte are out of the games, Hurske is a clear early favorite.
– For Hursk, it would be important to have a good and intact run in the WC. If the conditions are good, I expect a clear under 13 seconds. Now there is so little time until the European Championships, so the normal competition condition should be good.
Hurske has been fourth at the European Championships in the 60-meter hurdles.
“Can bring challenges”
This year, the Kaleva Games take place between the World Cup and the European Championship, which creates a challenge for Finland’s top players.
According to Ojaniemi, for example, not all Finnish athletes who participated in the World Championships have the opportunity to get the sharpest top at the World Championships.
– It can bring challenges. For some, the Kaleva races can only be an intermediate race, where you can’t schedule the best peak condition. The European Championship is more important. However, I believe that with the right preparation, you can combine the SM and value races well.
According to Ojanim, Kaleva’s games still have a lot of weight in a big prestigious competition year.
– From my point of view, I can say that the Kaleva races were ignited in a different way than the GP races. Even if there are valuable competition medals, they will light up, the former top 10 competitor emphasizes.