Annimari Korte plans to run again in the summer of 2024, if everything goes according to plan. Korte has already partially moved on to a new career, he will start coaching Tanja Kokko.
Joel Sippola,
Kimmo Porttila
Women’s 100m Hurdles SE Female Annimari Korte start coaching. He starts a coaching relationship Tanja Kokkonen with.
Kokkonen, in his twenties, is one of Finland’s most promising speed skaters at the moment. His record in the 100-meter hurdles is 13.67 and in the indoor 60-meter hurdles is 8.31.
Kokkonen’s club, like Kortte, is HIFK. In recent years, Kokkonen’s background has been influenced by the 100-meter hurdles WC bronze medalist Alina Talay. The Belarusian has given the Finn coaching help.
Korte will start coaching Kokkonen next autumn at the latest. For the time being, he still coaches alongside his sports career.
– Tanja has run at the same speed as me at the same age. I believe that he has a lot of potential, Korte tells Urheilu in Tenerife.
Korte studied coaching more than ten years ago in the United States. The 35-year-old athlete has been coached by, among other things Bart Benneman and by Rafael Blanquer such international top names.
– Sometimes I thought I didn’t want to coach. However, I have trained with so many top coaches that I have information about so many coaching systems. I want to pass it on.
Korte stopped his career for a while, but returned to the tracks even harder. Korte also had time to work as a sports journalist before returning as an athlete.
– The coaches have changed my whole life. I went from being a journalist to being a coach. It was thanks to the coach. I hope I can change the lives of some young athletes.
Kortte’s coaching philosophy
Korte made a big breakthrough in 2018 when he was 30 years old. He improved his record significantly to 13.14 and competed in his first adult competition.
The following year, the pace was even more ferocious. During the summer, Korte broke his record by no less than 42 hundredths and ran the SE 12.72, which is still valid in Joensuu.
In the same year, Korte reached the semi-finals in his first World Championships.
He swears by an individual-oriented coaching philosophy.
– I didn’t run hard until I was 30 years old, when I found a coach whose training was just right for me. I don’t want my athletes to do exactly what I have done. I know it may not suit them.
– I believe that for every athlete, you have to look at how to coach individually. You can’t have a big group where everyone does the same thing.
Kortte’s career has had enough ups and downs. He believes that he can share his experiences with others.
– When I finished my career, I ran 13.5 times. Then when I started again, I immediately went from that to 13:1 and 12.7. I wasn’t a super talented junior, so I know how to get to the international level from there.
His sports career will end next year
Kortte’s coaching staff will continue to grow in the near future.
– I will start with Tanja in the fall at the latest. I was thinking of ending my career in 2024, so then hopefully the group will grow considerably.
It’s the Olympic summer. Will you be running again this summer?
– That’s the purpose. We’ll see how this summer goes. I hope I can break more records. If I get the feeling that I can no longer break records, I don’t think it makes sense to continue.
– However, the goal is to compete in 2024 and run good times.
Kortte’s goal for this summer is wild: to break the four-year-old Finnish record of 12.72.
– I still believe in it. It would be great if there were several of us at the games again. We and the viewers enjoy it.
According to the card, the body is in record condition. He ran his record during the reign.
– Anyway, I’m clearly ahead of what I was earlier at this point in the year. I believe that there will be records.