2002 European Championship medalist Heli Koivula hopes that Kristiina Mäkelä will reach the World Championship medals on Tuesday morning Finnish time. It practically requires Mäkela to make a record jump.
Triple Jumper Kristiina Mäkelä rose to peak form in July at the most important moment of the season, on the eve of the World Championships.
Mäkelä first jumped his record at the beginning of July in Lempäälä with a result of 14.47. Mäkelä also jumped 14.50 in Lempäälä, but there was too much tailwind behind him.
The good mood continued on Saturday night in Eugene, when Mäkelä advanced to the finals with his new record of 14.48.
– I have followed Mäkelä’s jumps with a really happy mind. It’s been really great to see such determination and cheerfulness on the field. It is wonderful to see that he is in good physical condition and the technique is standardized and confident, the 2002 European silver medalist Heli Koivula says.
It has been great to see clips from Koivula, especially Mäkelä’s late summer. For him, it is also really important that there are more successes and good jumps.
– When there have been good results several times, it means that the spike can snap and there will be even longer cuts like that.
Technically, Mäkelä, 29, seems ready to jump, according to Koivula.
– I’m really happy that the run comes to the board well and in a good position. Especially when starting from the plank, the speed is maintained until the very end. It works at the moment and helps a lot with the dipstick.
– We have been working together for a few years, and now it really starts to feel like we have done the training of a triple jumper and have a triple jumper’s body that can withstand blows, Mäkelä was happy.
Koivulaki has pointed this out.
– He can take on hard jumps and the jumps stay up really nicely. There are no rotations of any kind to the page or elsewhere. The package is packed. His horse control is admirably tough at the moment.
Mäkelä, who jumped fourth in the qualification for the longest jump, has said that he is aiming for a medal in the final competition.
In previous years, the World Championship bronze has come off in Doha 2019 with a result of 14.73, in London 2017 with a result of 14.77 and in Beijing 2015 with a result of 14.77. In the last decade, the shortest bronze jump was in Moscow, 14.65.
The story continues after the statistics and the picture.
1. Yulimar Rojas VEN 15.74
2. Keturah Orji USA 14.79
3. Maryna Bek-Romanchuk UKR 14.74
4. Kimberly Williams JAM 14.62
5. Thea Lafond DMA 14.62
6. Tori Franklin USA 14.59
7. Leyanis Pérez Hernández CUB 14.58
8. Shanieka Ricketts JAM 14.52
9. Ana Lucia Jose Tima DOM 14.52
**10. Kristiina Mäkelä FIN 14.48
**11. Patricia Mamona POR 14.42
12. Ackelia Smith JAM 14.36
Mäkelä’s goal is tough, because it practically requires its own record. According to Koivula, there are ingredients for pole vaulting.
– Jumping is somehow ready. It’s good to put a little speed or that kind of feeling into the game. It would seem that there will still be a long record jump, Koivula believes.
Koivula believes and hopes that Mäkelä’s years of work will show up in Oregon in the form of a medal.
– I’m waiting just like Kristiina herself is probably waiting for a medal. Nice to see that he is hungry for medals. Let’s hope that he will have the most wonderful evening of his life so far, and he will be able to enjoy jumping in the form of a record and hopefully also a medal.