Reetta Hurske, the winner of the European indoor track championship, will run in the first Diamond League competition of her career in Doha on Friday. He admits that he enjoys finally being the spearhead of Finnish hurdles.
Anu Karttunen,
Kimmo Porttila
Ten years ago Nooralotta Neziri started the renaissance of Finnish quick fences. Neziri improved the eight-year-old Finnish record by three hundredths of a second with a time of 13.10. Since then, the SE time has been modified several times, and currently it is Annimari Kortene in names (12.72).
Reetta Hurske has been involved in this front for years, but now for the first time he is spearheading it.
– I can’t deny that it feels good, Reetta Hurske admitted.
– Of course, I would have wished that those top results would have come earlier, but I am satisfied that I was able to work. Now at 27, soon to be 28, I am at the peak of my career.
The fact that Hurske says that his life is in order was already strongly visible during the Halli period. He clocked record times from race to race and crowned his reign at the EC competitions in Istanbul.
Hurske had already beaten his SE time in the semi-finals and was only six hundredths short of it. Hurske entered the final race as the early favorite and withstood the pressure. He became the European champion of the 60-meter hurdles and at the same time beat the Finnish record of 7.79.
European Championship gold and great times also brought Hurskee an invitation to the Diamond League competition in Doha. Although the native of Tampere is an experienced competitor, he has not competed in the Diamond League before.
For some reason, the situation worries him, but also because of the timing of the competition. The race will be held in Doha on Friday.
– I have never started competing at the beginning of May, Hurske said.
– Of course, I have expectations. When you go to the finish line, you have to run hard. But my condition is such that there is no obstacle to running hard.
The work done bears fruit
“Hard fitness.” These two words appear frequently in Hurskee’s speech. Before Doha, Hurske camped in Tenerife, where the training went well. The Finnish sailor believes that he will be able to start his season at a better level than before. This means that the run has gone harder, his confidence has improved and he has been able to focus on different things in training.
– I’ve been able to train healthy and I’ve focused on things that are good for me. I have credit for doing it myself. The goals are tougher than ever before, Hurske assured.
Hurskee’s old outdoor track record is only six hundredths away from the Finnish record. Hurske himself doesn’t say that he is looking for an SE time, but he wants to run hard times and improve his own record to new tenths. He ran 12.78 more than four years ago. In the same summer, he also broke the 13-second mark for the first time.
– You have to be realistic. The world level is really tough at the moment. We have the World Cup in the summer, and I’m looking for the best result there for this summer. My goal is to reach tough competitions with my own record and enjoy competing, Hurske listed.
Hurske admits that there have been all kinds of results along the way. However, he has persistently spent hours after hours training and believed that running in the summer will work – even if it hasn’t always worked out.
– Now has been the year when things have gone really well. The work done is bearing fruit now.
The organ opened by the bang of the gun
Hurskee’s first 100-meter hurdles competition after the indoor season is the first Diamond League competition of his career. He admits that the equation is exciting, but at the same time he reminds that he has run tough races before.
– It shouldn’t be a new situation. I know what to do when I get behind the line, he said.
For Hurskee, the difference in running the 60-meter and 100-meter hurdles has been bigger in the past than it is today. The current situation has been influenced by the change that he made his coach Marjukka Suihkon with for this season. The two decided to invest in both distances and that the 60 meters should be run at the same speed as the 100 meters.
– In a way, it’s a different sport, but we’re thinking about it now from the same angle. Only the organ is open from the racks when the gun bangs, Hurske laughed.