Kaleva Games in Vaasa 27.–30.6. follows the events moment by moment in this article.
At the Kaleva Games, as expected, he won the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase championship Top Raitanen opened his challenges of the season after the competition. Raitanen’s winning time in the competition, which was a solo run, was 8:46.63.
In the interview, Raitenen said that he set out to chase the final time that started well under 8:30. The hoped-for result did not materialize and at the same time Paris’ Olympic ranking did not improve.
Raitanen is outside the Olympic ranking, and a place in the competition would require the absence of several athletes.
The season has been challenging for Raitase, 28. Usually, he has trained during the spring for a few competitions and then took a training break to be in action again at the end of the summer. Now, however, we have had to chase ranking points when, for example, the European Championships went poorly.
– By Midsummer at the latest, you should get back to the taste of training and come back in August for the next competition period. It’s always been difficult and it’s difficult right now, Raitanen lamented the structure of his season.
– Yes, it’s sad, Raitanen summed up disappointed in the interview.
Sports expert Tuomas Raja predicts before the Kaleva Games that Raitanen’s final time should have been no less than 8:22, so that it would have been enough for a certain Olympic place.
The opening race of the season was successful for Raitase, when he ran the season’s top result of 8:21.00 in Karlsruhe, Germany.
After the competition in Germany, everything looked good on paper, but the long injury of the winter and the illnesses of the spring hindered Raitanen’s intense training.
– There was a large tear in the rear thigh in the region of the buttock. In October, it was established and by the end of February it had been investigated, Raitanen said According to Iltalehti.
According to Raitanen, the hamstring injury and the lack of training cause challenges, especially when recovering from competitions. This was seen, for example, in the European Championships in Rome, when after a good run in the heats, Raitanen did not reach the same level in the final race.
– I have been able to run well in individual races, but in the wrong places. This is the kind of sport where you have to be at your best in bright lights, but since the beginning of the season I haven’t been successful in that.
However, Raitanen believed in his tough time goal despite the difficulties, even though there were no pull aids available at the Kaleva Games.
– The situation before the competition was not hopeless. This was resolved for the man today, Raitanen admitted in SUL’s press release.
Raitanen can still believe that the situation will improve with the summer. He still wants to fight hard times.
– It has been the same formula for many years. After two or three good races in the beginning of the season, the results have started to deteriorate, but after a small training season, I have been able to run my best races in August. It looks like it’s happening now too, but somewhere other than Paris.
Like Raitanen, who ran for the Finnish women’s steeplechase champion Ilona Mononen is also in a loose log regarding the Olympic place. Mononen, 20, ran as Finnish champion in Vaasa with a time of 9:50.58.
At the European Championships in Rome, Mononen ran sixth in the final race with a new Finnish record time of 9:23.28.
Mononen had also signed up for the 1,500-meter race at the Kaleva Games, but left the distance without running, keeping an eye on the steeplechase.
– Gusty wind and it felt like the wind was spinning with the runners, but it was heavy to carry alone. I tried to focus on obstacle technique, but that didn’t really work either. It was a bit difficult to recharge after the European Championships, Mononen said after Saturday’s competition.
Mononen is currently in last place in the Olympic ranking, when 36 hurdlers are accepted to the Paris Olympics.
– I don’t count those points myself. I probably should have run harder if I wanted to improve those points, but that’s how it goes.
The Olympic ranking closes tomorrow, Sunday, and there will be several more high-level competitions around the world this weekend. Finns’ Olympic places may require the absence of athletes who have reached the Olympics through the ranking.
Kaleva Games in Vaasa 27.–30.6. follows the events moment by moment in this article.