Valtteri Uusitalo won the European sailing championship in the ILCA 7 category, but did not qualify for the Paris Olympics. According to Toni Ropose, the Olympic Committee cannot have fortune tellers.
Roope Visuri,
Riku Porvari
Valtteri Uusitalo won the European sailing championship in the ILCA 7 class in Athens on Friday.
Uusitalo still won’t make it to the Olympics in Paris this summer, because Finland’s Olympic representative in the ILCA 7 category has already been chosen Kaarle Tapper.
Finland’s previous EC gold in sailing’s Olympic categories was Sari Multala victory in 2008.
In December, Tapper was selected as Finland’s representative in the ILCA 7 category. He sailed for Finland in the World Championships in The Hague in August, being 18th. However, in January, Uusitalo won Tapper’s World Championships in Adelaide. Uusitalo was 19th as the best Finn, Tapper 32nd.
Tapper did not participate in the European Championship regatta in Athens, but is already focusing on preparing for the main event of the year.
Uusitalo pondered the fate of the Olympic venue after Friday’s European Championship in an interview with .
– Of course, it makes you think, and I would have wished that I had been at the Olympics myself. But the Olympic Committee thought it best to make a relatively early decision on who will be sent to the Olympics. According to them, that was the best way to make a decision, let’s respect that. It’s a decision we live by, Uusitalo said.
Top sports representative of the Olympic Committee Toni Roponen explains that they wanted to give Tapper time to concentrate and practice for the Olympic sailing competition in Marseille.
– Before this decision, Valtteri had never beaten Kaarle before. Those previous merites contributed to the fact that Kaarle Tapper was selected with an early selection, Roponen described.
According to Roponen, the situation in sailing is challenging because only one boat can be selected for the Olympics per class. He reminded that, in addition to Tapper, the European Championships in Athens might have included other boat clubs focused on the Olympics.
– Sailing is a sport where early selection allows you to focus on training and certain conditions, Roponen stated.
Do you see something unpleasant in this situation?
– The media may want to think about it (the sad side). We can’t think of the best of the moment, but we think of who will be the best in August. The goal is for the Olympics in those conditions. It’s pointless to speculatively think about these things, Roponen replies.
– We trust the selection processes that we have and everything, 100 percent, support for Kaarle Tapper to prepare for the Olympics and on the other hand, 100 percent support is also for Valtteri Uusitalo to continue developing as an athlete. He certainly has an excellent future.
Roponen: We cannot be predictors
According to Roposen, the Olympic Committee’s top sports unit and the board made Tapper’s choice based on the Sailing Association’s presentation.
– If we hadn’t supported the selection or the presentation, questions would have been asked, but yes, we supported it, Roponen describes.
According to Roponen, the Olympic Committee has been informed that there are two talented young Finns in the ILCA 77 class, Noah Laukkanen and Valtteri Uusitalo.
– This year, Valtteri has clearly raised his level and has already become really good. Accordingly, Noah Laukkanen has not come. We can’t be forecasters, but decisions are made based on and relying on current information. We cannot think that we should have anticipated something at the end of December, says Roponen.
– The decision was made as well as possible based on information and we support it 100 percent. The belief that Kaarle Tapper is in excellent shape in Marseille is very strong.