The European Championships for under-23s will be held in Espoo on the 13th-16th. July. shows the races live.
ESPOO. Concentrated. He doesn’t even smile or vent even after the victory is decided.
As such, a multiple-time winner of the junior competition in the heptathlon Saga Vanninen usually known during the match. But in interviews, a completely different side of him comes across.
Relaxed. Vivid. He often laughs when the reporter asks or answers. The 20-year-old super talent can also laugh at himself.
At the preliminary meeting of the Finnish team organized in Espoo on Tuesday, Vanninen thought that he was asked about his toughest competitors in the under-23 European Championships.
The toughest challenger is the Netherlands Sophie Dokter. spokesperson of the Finnish Sports Association Tapio Nevalainen however, the question concerned Finnish fellow competitors. They also compete in the Espoo 7-match competition Vilma Itälinna mixed No, go ahead.
Itälinna, the same age, is Vanninen’s good friend and training partner.
– I know that Sofien. Others, not terribly, Vanninen answered at first.
At this point, Vanninen guessed from Itälinna’s reaction that the question was about his teammates. The crowd on the spot started to laugh.
– Sorry, Itälinna wondered jokingly in Vannine’s direction.
– Well, maybe I know them a little. It’s a really good feeling with them, Vanninen corrected the situation with a laugh.
Vanninen admitted after the press conference that he understood the question to be about the international situation.
– We are on really good terms with Vilma and Neea. I misunderstood the question a bit, Vanninen said in a good mood.
Records
A month and a half ago in Götzis, Austria, Vanninen set his impressive record of 6,391. He is only 13 points away from that A Swedish fairy tale 6,404 from the record series played in 1991.
This is the only match of the summer so far between the European Youth Championship winner and the two-time World Youth Champion. However, Vanninen has competed a lot in the summer in individual sports.
Records have been set in the 100-meter hurdles and 200-meter hurdles. In his record series, he clocked 13.48 and accelerated to 24.35 in second place.
During the summer, the records have improved to 13.34 and 24.30. The fencing record set at the Jämsänkoski fencing carnival was created in cool weather. So there is potential.
Vanninen says that individual sport performances are good test competitions.
– Yes, they tell about the level. However, they are not sensitized in the same way as a match.
In individual sports, height has been a challenge for Vanninen for a long time. In his record streak, he broke his record 180, but the level is not yet established.
Sömähammaslaji is the ball, in which he has beaten the opponent with a cool score of 16.12. The ambitious young woman was not satisfied with the shot put result of her record series of 14.98, but it was also better than in the old record series.
The developed speed side gives Jesse Jokinen however, a certain kind of peace for the coachee.
– If the speed goes forward, it actually affects every sport in the match. It brings credit to being able to make a better result.
A hard result before investment
The opening event of the heptathlon, the 100-meter hurdles, will be contested on Thursday from 9:45 am. Vanninen is used to the fact that the opening event is early in the morning.
– The sleep rhythm has been shifted so that I am ready in the morning. Morning races have never been a problem for me.
Vanninen goes to the games as number one in statistics. However, the challenge is tough, as Dokter, second in statistics, took his record 6,321 points at the same Götzis Games.
If Vanninen could break the Finnish record, he would set a new competition record on that side. It is currently Latvian Aiga Grabusten 6,396 played in 2009.
Vanninen has not looked at race records or other statistics, but gives an interesting answer about his goal.
– These are placement races, but for the future, what is more important is what kind of result you get. The goal is to make the best possible result. If someone else does better, it doesn’t matter, as long as you do as hard as possible.
Vanninen has also seen in the World Championships held in August, but the Espoo Games are his main goal for the season. According to the athlete, the condition is appropriate.
– Training has been lightened and sensitized for this competition. This is set as the main race of the season. The aim here is to be in the best shape of the past season.