Based on the morning part of the opening day, the difficulties of many top-level Finnish athletes became the hottest topic of the day. At the very end of the day, however, the 23-year-old became the freshest topic of conversation by Nathalie Blomqvist a great run in the 5,000m final.
The Finnish comet of the early season improved Annemari Sandellin old SE time by more than ten seconds with a time of 14:44.72 and was a wonderful fifth. It was Sandell in 1998 who was responsible for the last place (top 8) achieved by a Finnish female endurance runner.
Having only run a few 5,000 meter races, Blomqvist’s potential is huge. He has previously been known as a runner of middle distances, especially 1,500 meters.
– The run was not perfect, because he was looking for his place all the time. He was not able to pull completely relaxed, because he sometimes ran the second track as well. The extra trip was a little pointless, Ojaniemi points out.
Then to the negative Finnish issues. The biggest disappointments were the 7-player Saga Vannisen suspension due to back problems, triple jump women Kristiina Mäkelän mixed Senni Salminen elimination as well as Elmo Lakan a really quiet run in the preliminaries of the 110 meter hurdles.
– The day as a whole was more negative than positive. There were big disappointments. The three-legged women would have had a shot at the finals, but then they didn’t make it. They were unable to take advantage of the jumping off point. Especially on Senn, jumping was unstable.
Vanni was even expected to compete for medals. He has suffered a lot during his young career, which is a worrying feature for a 21-year-old athlete.
– You have to think about what causes the back pain. The back is one that affects the training as a whole a lot.
Who flopped?
However, the biggest disappointment among the Finns was the experienced Lakka, who struggled in the preliminaries of the 110-meter hurdles with a miserable time (14.10) and was the weakest of the entire group. A time of 13.84 was enough for the semi-finals, which should be paper at Laka’s basic level.
At the EC general in Jyväskylä, he ran the seventh fastest time of his career (13.50), which raised expectations for Rome. He was even considered a potential finalist.
The 31-year-old from Jyväskylä made a mistake three years ago by breaking it Arto Bryggaren during long-term SE 13.31. However, the value races of the outdoor tracks have gone under the bench.
Laka’s own goals were hard on Rome. In March on MTV Antero Mertaranta in the interview, he talked about his EC final goal.
– The final is an opportunity for all runners. In a sensitive sport, others can have a worse day, so you can even hit the medal base. Before that, however, you have to make it to the finals.
Also two years ago, his EC road was blocked in the preliminaries.
– It’s sad for Elmo. For some reason, most of the heats have been minor wins. I don’t know if the download goes over or if there is some troll from the heat run. Considering the level of the season, that was a really big dive. Of course, there was a big bump in the first fence, which understandably made it difficult to run. There should still be no mistakes, Ojaniemi says.
In his career, Lakka has been in the finals of the 60-meter hurdles race in the hall once. The main goals are outside in the 110-meter fences at the EC level, but for Laka, the sand in the hourglass is starting to run low.
In the next European Championships, the SE man will be 33 years old.
– Elmo usually has very few really bad runs, because he is very consistent, Ojaniemi adds.
Who surprised?
For Finns, the biggest surprises were Ilona Mononen a stunning record-breaking run in the heats of the 3,000m steeplechase as well as Emilia Kankaan final place in the ball.
Although it was believed beforehand that Mononen would struggle for a place in the finals, the twenty-something talent’s new journey has been completely deafening for him since the beginning of the summer. The runner from Ahkera in Lahti has already dropped 40 seconds from last year’s record.
On Friday, Mononen ran easily third in the second heat to the final race, improving his record by five seconds with a time of 9:31.08. She is now second only to SE woman in Finland’s all-time statistics Sandra Eriksson 9.24.70.
Mononen himself saw after the run that the final place came relatively easily. In Sunday’s final, a new SE may be born. This is supported by the fact that Monone usually recovers quickly for the next competitions.
What next?
On Saturday, expectations of success are aligned Aku to the Beard, who competes in a 20 kilometer walk. Last year, he was sixth in the World Championships on that trip.
From the point of view of walkers, the fact that for this day Rome has been promised really scorching heat adds to the challenge.
– It poses its own challenges. On the other hand, there is always the potential for surprise when there are such conditions, says Ojaniemi.
Pole vaulters defending their championships from previous games are also in action Wilma Murto and the 3,000-meter steeplechase Top Raitanen. Both have had enough challenges since the beginning of the season.
– It’s interesting to see Top’s heat run. It’s a small question mark, although I’ve heard good things about his condition. Wilma has only one race left, so I’m interested in how the qualifying looks like. It creates anticipation for the final.