Two Finnish records on the same day is a rare treat for Finnish athletics at the Olympics.
4.8. 21:38•Updated 4.8. 22:06
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PARIS. On Sunday, the Stade de France stadium experienced rare moments in the Olympic history of Finnish athletics, when Ilona Mononen and Krista Tervo set Finnish records in their sports.
Mononen, representing Ahkera in Lahti, improved the SE in his own name in the preliminaries of the 3,000 meter hurdles by 0.51 seconds to 9:22.77. Karhula’s Katajainen Tervo, on the other hand, in the javelin throw also beat his SE by 16 cents to 74.79.
Mononen’s record time was not enough for the heats.
– I hope that these will be the first of many Olympics. I am immensely richer in experience and learning. An indescribable amount of new things to learn about how to act in big competitions, and how to keep your own thoughts in check. I am new Ilona in Los Angeles, Mononen said.
Tervo, on the other hand, won its qualifying group and was the best of the group in the combined results. Tervo became the first Finnish woman to win the field events qualification at the Olympics.
– This is absolutely incredible. I don’t even know what just happened, Tervo said.
An extraordinary day
The exceptional nature of the Finnish performances mentioned above can be illustrated by looking at Olympic history. A total of 46 SE results have now been seen in the five-ring races.
The last time Finnish track and field athletes set two Finnish records on the same day at the Olympics was almost 40 years ago at the Los Angeles Games.
On August 4, 1984, there were emergency responders Arto Bryggare and a marathon runner Tuija Toivonen. Bryggare’s time was 13.35 and Toivonen’s 2.32.07.
Things went even better in Munich on September 10, 1972. At that time, on the same day, three running SEs were proven, of which the crown Pekka Vasala ran Olympic gold in the 1,500 meters with a time of 3:36.33. The men finished sixth in the 4x400m final with a time of 3:01.12, and the women finished seventh in the 4x400m final with a time of 3:29.44.
The day before, no less than four records were set. The men improved the SE time twice in the 4×100 meters (39.54 and 39.30), and the women and men already made the SE in the preliminaries in the long relay (3.30.84 and 3.02.97).
Another double was seen at the Munich Games. September 3rd Lasse Virén won the 10,000m Olympic gold with a SE time of 27:38.35, and Mona-Lisa Pursiainen ran 400 meters to a Finnish record of 52.53.
The next and oldest SE celebrations can be found in Helsinki from 1952. July 26 Sea Island pushed the ball 13.02, and Olli Reikko scored 6185 in the decathlon.
In the same Helsinki Games, we saw the previous time when two women did the SE on the same day at the Olympics. On July 23, the long jumper was involved Maire Österdahl (573) and an 80-meter seine Seija Inkinen (12,22).
Before the 1952 Helsinki Games, there were only six SE results from Finnish track and field athletes in the five ring games.
Sunday in Paris was therefore only the seventh of its kind, when at least two Finnish track and field athletes set a Finnish record on the same day on the sport’s most prestigious stage.