Two-time junior world champion in heptathlon Saga Vanninen, 19, is one of the greatest Finnish achievers of the athletics era. The top talent chosen as the Young Athlete of the Year for the second time in a row has been on a record-breaking streak in almost every sport.
A couple of weeks ago, he made a gigantic 87 cent record improvement to 15.95 in the shot put. Seven hundredths of a second (8.31) has fallen from the record in the hurdles at 60 meters. In the long jump, he broke his indoor record (629).
At the beginning of February in Tallinn, the strong spirit was also concretized in a match where an athlete from Tampere’s Pyrinnö came close Tiia Hautala 23-year-old 5-game SE streak (4,580). Vanninen ranked second in Finland’s all-time statistics with 4,541 points.
Vanninen is third in European statistics.
The shot put record of 15.95 is a very hard result in the women’s match. For example, at the Tokyo Olympics, it would have taken the event victory. Two-time Olympic and World Cup winner Nafissatou Thiam is one of the best competitors in the ball ring.
His record is 15.52 five years ago in the hall. In the match, he has reached his best result of 15.41.
In the match in Tallinn, Vanninen pushed 15.56. In last summer’s World Championships in Oregon, Holland Anouk Vetter scored 16.25, but Vanninen would have been clearly second with his record.
– It was a bit of a surprise, because technically there has been no investment in the ball. We have focused quite a lot on running, which is why you can expect development in other sports, Vanninen tells Urheilu.
Vannis has been coached by an ex-multiplayer since the fall Jesse Jokinen.
He is happy about Vanninen’s 5 match. According to Jokinen, the improvement in ball rolling is a result of the developed strength levels of the upper and middle body.
– When the youth series become the adult series, bringing a record factory to every sport is a great goal, but success in that is rare. Saga felt that it (the match) went to the bottom, but as a coach you have to say that the result was really tough, says Jokinen.
Increase speed with new lessons
Vanninen worked as a coach before Matti Liimatainen. Jokinen was already familiar to Vanninen as a coach from the youth championships, where Jokinen has worked as a sport coach for the matches.
In Vanninen’s opinion, the main points of Liimatainen’s and Jokinen’s coaching philosophies are basically the same. Jokinen says that in the training they have tried to preserve the things that have already worked.
One of Vanninen’s obvious areas of development is speed. According to the athlete, an effort has been made to increase running speed through technology.
– Matti has been really good at coaching power production, for example. It has been maintained, but a little more has been added to running training, Jokinen states.
The rhythm of training has changed in Jokinen’s coaching.
– Lighter and harder training periods are separate. More has been invested in the number of runs, Vanninen opens.
In the pentathlon, Vanninen’s challenging sport was the height, where he finished 170th.
– It has been a challenging sport even in training. Maybe you can get it for a better model before the summer. I don’t know if there will be time for the government, Vanninen thinks.
EC halls and Finland’s record
The talent of the wrestlers, who turn 20 in May, is going to the EC halls held in Istanbul, Turkey, in the opening week of March. Vanninen is ranked 11th in the European Championships. 14 athletes will be accepted to the European Championships.
Jokin is confident about the EC place. According to him, many of the athletes above Vanninen have already announced that they will miss the games.
The previous Finnish woman who competed in the EC indoor match was Tiia Hautala from 2002. She was fourth at her best.
– You can never say for sure, but now it looks good. If we can join, we will go to Istanbul. There will be harder points, Jokinen trusts.
In the EC halls, ranking for points, i.e. in the top eight, would be realistic. Six years ago, Vanninen’s record would have been enough for sixth, and four years ago, instead of eighth. In both competitions, EC bronze was taken with 4,723 points.
A medal wouldn’t be amiss if you were to achieve great success, even though Vanninen and Jokinen haven’t set that as a goal. In the previous EC halls, 4,644 were enough for bronze.
In Vanninen’s record series, height is the sport where you can easily get good extra points. Vanninen’s record is 179.
Jokinen reminds that in the 5-match in Tallinn, Vanninen competed at altitude for the first time this season.
– If you get a result in height a couple of heights up, an improvement of 50–100 points is realism. It requires a lot of success, but I don’t see it as impossible if the height is good, Jokinen says.
Jokkine adds that there is still room for improvement in Vanninen’s strong sports this winter. In the ball of the match, he missed his record of 15.95 by 39 cents. An ambitious athlete has talked about breaking 16 meters.
– The basic level in Kuula is good. Even in genuine ones, with a better start, you can get to Napsu harder. As long as the reliability of performance can be maintained, there is room to play for this season, Jokinen sees.
Vanninen is aiming to beat Tiia Hautala’s 23-year-old SE result (4,580).
– To be honest, Finland’s record is in limbo. It should no longer be hidden, says Jokinen.
Athletics Championship Halls 18.–19. February live on Areena and on TV2 as a second broadcast.