How does the idea of a Finnish coach coaching the world number one in men’s 100 meters sound?
The trick was seen 21 years ago when Esa Peltola66 built just short of the 11-second man, About Patrick Johnson under 10 second sprinter.
In the 2003 season, the Australian Johnson was the number one name in the men’s 100 meter world statistics. Behind him were such names as Asaph Powell, Justin Gatlin, Frank Fredericks and Maurice Greene.
– Actually, Patrick would have been much more talented at 200 meters, but due to injuries he was not able to practice it fully, says Peltola.
However, in 2005, Johnson was sixth in the 200 meters at the World Championships in Helsinki. The USA took a quadruple victory in the race led by Justin Gatlin. The last in that final was a well-known name, otherwise Jamaican Usain Bolt.
The field eventually ended up in Australia
Peltola, raised by Kauhajoki Karhu, started his coaching career at a young age.
– I started as a club coach when I was 15 years old. I was untalented as an athlete and I realized early on that maybe this is my strength. I was curious and liked to figure things out, laughs Peltola.
Peltola trained as a physiotherapist and graduated from the University of Jyväskylä with a master’s degree in exercise science. On the coaching side, he first worked as a youth national team coach.
In the years 1983–88, Peltola was the head coach of the sprint and hurdles of the Finnish Sports Federation. In those years, the sports group achieved great results. Aturi Arto Bryggare a handful of valuable competition medals. Tuija Helander finished seventh in the Olympic finals in Los Angeles and fifth in the World Championships in Rome. Also Hläna Marjamaa ran sixth in the 100m World Championship final in Helsinki.
However, not everyone was of the opinion that Finnish sprinting and hurdles are on the rise.
– When I started as a head coach at the Sports Confederation, I received a letter in which an older gentleman wrote: “You have accepted a hopeless task. If you’re wise, you’ll steer those who have a little speed to baseball or long jump.”
Until leaving for Australia, that letter was in Peltola’s box as a reminder that that statement must be proven wrong.
Next, Peltola was appointed head coach of Qatar’s sprints. Two years passed there. Then he was asked to be an AIS (Australian Institute of Sport) talent scout. Peltola stayed in Australia under AIS and began to develop the country’s support athlete system. In 2000, the Sydney Olympics were coming, and the island nation wanted to invest in sports.
– I created a five-step athlete support system for them, says Peltola, who has lived in Australia since the 1990s.
“Coach, I want to be a sprinter”
In October 1996, the Australian student championships were held in Canberra. Peltola sat in his office at the stadium and watched from the window a guy who ran with a wonderful technique.
He was Patrick Johnson, whose father was an Irish boat captain and whose mother was a native of Australia, an Aboriginal.
– After the heats, I went to the field to tell him that he could be an international class sprinter if he wanted to.
In a later Australian TV documentary, Johnson described the situation in question to an interviewer: “At the time, I thought that man was completely crazy.”
Johnson won the 100 meter championship in the race and Peltola went to talk with him again. It turned out that because of his speed, Johnson had also been offered a lucrative Rugby League professional contract.
Peltola talked about the possible dangers of rugby and advertised that you can qualify for the Olympic Games as a sprinter. He asked Johnson to think about it and come to the office in a couple of weeks. The multi-talented Johnson, who was working at the State Department at the time, said he was considering it.
However, Johnson appeared the very next day at the door of Peltola’s office and said: “Coach, I want to be a sprinter!”.
– That’s when I knew that the motivation is at least pretty strong, recalls Peltola.
From an 11-second runner to an Australian record
When Johnson started training, he was already 24 years old and had no background in any sports. He didn’t know how to leave the racks at all. Satanen had traveled a little under 11 seconds in permitted winds.
Peltola used all his skills to arrange some kind of scholarship for Johnson. The exercises started in November 1996. The print came quickly.
– He was selected for the 1997 World Championships, but before the Games, his thigh tore and the Games went under the bench.
Johnson had a lot of injuries because the muscles and tendons were not used to the hard training. He was also very sick.
In 1999, there was some sort of breakthrough in Europe, when Johnson clocked 10.18 in the 100 in Switzerland. A year later in Australia, the trip was already 10.10. But before the Olympics there was illness again.
Johnson ran at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, but was eliminated in the first semi-finals.
– When Johnson’s name was said, 100,000 people cheered. It might have been a bit of a surprise, Peltola described the situation at Sydney’s Olympic Stadium.
In 2003, Peltola had Johnson in top shape. The sprinter clocked 9.93 in the front straight in May in Japan, which was the number one time in the world that year. The result is still an Australian record.
– He already ran 9.88 in February of that year in Perth, in a slight tailwind. But that season was a bit unlucky.
So how did Peltola turn Johnson into a man of less than 10 seconds?
– The motivation and desire were strong. He was a rare sprinter and didn’t need anyone to spar with in training.
Johnson, who put everything into running, slept with the starting racks under his bed, because he wanted to train the starting position as much as possible every day. Peltola and Johnson did a huge amount of work to get Johnson’s body working.
– A lot of work was done on the starting and acceleration technology and the power output. He was not a naturally explosive type. His trump card was the ease and relaxation of running.
Johnson was also very polite. He thanked his coach after every practice.
– You rarely experience something like that, says Peltola.
Along with Johnson, Peltola coached, among other things, an Australian fast bowler Kyle Vander-Kuyp. He is an Olympic finalist with a record of 13.29.
What does Finnish sprinting look like?
And what about Finnish express trains – what has changed in 40 years?
Peltola sees that the situation has improved since the 1980s.
– There are a few sprint coaches in Finland, such as Petteri Jouste and Mikael Ylöstalowho have been doing good work for a long time, says Peltola, who once coached Ylöstalo.
He is satisfied that there are already indoor conditions for runners in many places in Finland. There is also something to fix.
– Indoor tracks are hard on the legs. There should be even more training halls with different surfaces, thinks Peltola, who likes longer camps abroad for sprinters.
– Warmth and training in good conditions are important, but staying healthy is key.
– I think the respect for speed training has increased. The problem is that the coach’s eye is not always there. You can write the program, but you should see that you train hard enough, but not too hard.
The decisive factor here is of course money. There are too few paid athletics coaches in Finland.
– There should be solutions for that, the bullshit won’t help.
In Peltola’s opinion, sprinting requires strong motivation and desire.
– A sprinter cannot be a squeezer. He has to maintain a certain composure. Starting and accelerating must also be done economically.
In Peltola’s opinion, the dominant junior runners with a good start have a chance to go far. He also regrets the fact that there have been many talented sprinters in Finland whose careers have fallen due to injuries. Some talents have also not looked at their cards to the end.
– When someone with top talent is found, all parties should support the decision to see to the end what his gifts are sufficient for.
“Sprinters need to stay fit”
Peltola says that her heart beats especially for hurdles.
– There are so many changing factors in hurdles that the coach has even more opportunities to influence the final result.
Peltola mentions women’s hurdles in particular Nooralotta Nezirinbecause he was able to break boundaries.
The women’s smooth Peltola also has clear favorites.
– In women’s sprinting in Finland, there have been two women above the others at the talent level: Mona-Lisa Pursiainen and Helinä Marjamaa. They could run hard in the relatively modest training environments of the time.
What about the modern runner? Lotta Kemppinen?
– Lota must remain intact. When you stay intact, the high-quality training will only come more and more. But Lota’s chances are good.
Peltola states that 100 meters is a sport that interests every country in the world. In the 1980s, the Finnish record for men’s 100 meters was Antti Rajamäki 10.43. Now Samuli Samuelsson SE time is 10.12. Would you have believed it?
– I thought that at some point it would come.
Peltola knows a little about Samuelsson and the recent 100 meters champion Riku Illukan from training.
– Samuli has everything he needs to run harder, he just needs to stay healthy. The same applies to Riku. If someone is not muscular and moves hard, then I see huge potential. Both of them could also move hard in 200 meters.
Samuel Purolan and Santeri Örnin he doesn’t know the backgrounds that well.
– Would a brave attempt at 400 meters be a good thing for Purola, because he has managed the distance in a good time without major sport training? I don’t really know anything about Santer, but I’m sure he can still improve.
How to advance sprinting?
– I think athletics must be brutal in this talent hunt. Yes, the king of the sports has to take his own, throws Peltola.
Peltola is retired, but we still have to ask him if he would take on a Finnish talent in his coaching, if one could be found?
– I could take it, but he should agree to live and train in Australia during the winters, spins Peltola, pulls the Australia cap on his head up from his forehead and smiles broadly like a native.