Wilma Murto brought Finland a World Cup medal after an eight-year break.
Wilma Murto has won bronze in the pole vault at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary. Murto secured his medal with a score of 480.
Murto crossed the heights with his first all the way to 485. He dropped all three of his attempts and thus did not get to compete for the brightest medals.
The World Cup gold is awarded Nina Kennedy and by Katie Moon between. Both cleared the height of 485 in their first attempt.
The turning point of Murto’s race was at height 465. Murto was very close to falling, but the bar was stuck in place. After that, he talked to the coach Jarno Koivunen with, changed his execution and crossed the height of 475 in his first.
The last time a Finn celebrated a World Cup medal was in 2015, when Tero Pitkämäki won bronze in the javelin. Meanwhile, 18 years have passed since the World Cup medal outside the javelin, because Tommi Evilä won bronze in the long jump in Helsinki in 2005.
– It was already time. It’s not every day that you come to Finland. It sounds good, Koivunen said about the previous World Cup medal.
Koivunen described his mood as relieved.
– I knew there was a good chance if it was a good day. As you saw, the competition is tight, there were many with the same cents. Had to get a clean line, did it today.
“The win was left for next year”
According to Koivunen, Murto changed his pole in the race with an eye on victory.
– Didn’t quite get into that last episode. We traded it with an eye toward profit. Maybe it was left for next year.
Murto had previously been sixth at the World Championships (2022) and fifth at the Tokyo Olympics (2021).
– There have been valuable competition experiences along the way. Good and bad. They just grow. Let’s learn from it and try to do better, and we will gradually gain confidence.
Murro’s basic level has been strong this year, as he has jumped at least 471 in four different competitions. Meanwhile, the World Championship in Hungary was the ninth time in a row that Murto has jumped at least 461.
The story is updated.