Finland’s previous medal was won by Jorma Korhonen, who took bronze at the 1993 European Championships. He knew how to expect success from Martti Puumalainen.
Sanna Kähkönen,
Arto Loukasmäki
Sunday was a big day for Finnish judo, when the heavyweight judoka Martti Puumalainen won gold at the European Judo Championships in Montpellier, France.
– Marti had a great performance yesterday, I watched with interest. It was a nice medal for Finnish judo, says the man from Kajaani, who has also been named a judo legend Jorma Korhonen.
Korhonen, who competed in the 71-kilogram category, won European Championship gold in 1989, silver in 1990 and bronze in 1993, and was ninth in the Barcelona Olympics. So 30 years have passed since his last Finnish judo competition medal.
– It has felt like a long time, after all, there are lost bronze medals there. It has been close before, both in women and in men.
The Masters win gave a sign of things to come
Korhonen knew how to expect success from Puumalainen, because according to Korhonen’s description, he has “good buns in the oven”. The employer of a Puumainen is the defense forces, the athlete can find a personal trainer and there is also luck – although, according to Korhonen, you can’t count on that.
– Yes, Martti has been in great shape. And the masters win in August gave good signs of the future.
Only the top 32 in the world ranking get an invitation to the prestigious Judo Masters. You get the most Olympic and world ranking points from the tournament right after the World Championships. Puumalainen secured his place in next year’s Paris Olympics with the gold medal in the Hungarian Masters competition.
Korhonen is one of the coaches working alongside the judo federation’s own adult work. He has been waiting for a Finnish judoka prize medal for a long time. In his opinion, other judokas can also be successful and the sport should make the most of the fresh competition gold.
Success requires honest hard work and professional coaching from Korhose.
– I myself started judo when I was 11 years old. It wasn’t that serious then, but it started to become more professional. Yes, it requires doing the same thing full-time and focus, that the thing is in the back of your mind all the time and of course the goals are high enough.