Krista Tervo’s outlook for the 2025 World Cup season is one of the best for Finnish track and field athletes, if the thrower can get rid of her crazy season problems, writes Atte Husu.
Atte Husuurheilhu reporter
Sweden match on channels 30.–31.8. on TV2, Areena, Radio in Finland and the app. Shipping information here.
53 throws, 33 of which were not measured. Only three throws over 70 meters, the most recent of which was in May. In the previous two races, there was no result at all.
Scoundrel thrower Krista Tervon the starting points for the Paris Olympics held at the beginning of August were, in a word, a lottery. When the moukku flew out of Tervo’s hands in the Olympic qualification to Finland’s record reading of 74.79, the undersigned grabbed the phone and contacted Tomi Vänttinen.
Vänttinen is the leading expert in sports biomechanics at the Kihu Center for Competition and Elite Sports, whose area of responsibility has been to analyze the technique and results of the top names in Finnish throwing sports.
Vänttinen didn’t answer the phone after the Olympic qualification, but the same evening he wrote an e-mail message with the accompanying words Here’s something to worry about. The length of the message was 4,424 characters.
The long-time biomechanics guru dismantled Tervo’s SE result in Lahti in May. Based on that, Vänttinen assesses Tervo’s potential, if the Karhula Katajainen thrower can get the numerous aspects of the throw to fall into place.
– I would throw as a wild guess that with an optimal throw and in good conditions Tervo can currently throw about 77 meters. In reality, the roll comes out like a lottery machine, so anything can come out of it, Vänttinen concluded his message.
Hard currency
After Vänttinen’s assessment, Tervo finished sixth in the Olympic final at the beginning of August with a score of 73.83. The expert’s words came back to mind on Friday, when Tervo threw 74.85 as a new SE in the match against Sweden.
There is no denying Vänttinen’s cold data. Based on that, Tervo’s SE result, which takes him eighth in the world statistics for the season, is not a surprise.
Instead, Tervo’s certainty of results in August can be counted as a surprise: no less than eight of the 14 throws were in their seventies.
Finding the results as the most important part of the season shows Tervo’s talent as a competitor. On the other hand, there are no probabilities to support that Tervo will make results with this season’s template as well next summer.
A certainty of results like August must become the new normal, so that the domestic athletics crowd can place expectations on Tervo’s shoulders at the World Championships in Tokyo, which will take place a year from now.
In the last five years, there have been four global value competitions, in three of which the medal was won with a throw of less than 75 meters. Even at its hardest, 75.41 has been required for bronze at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest.
Next to the break
Pole vaulter for now Wilma Murto when he is healthy, as the only Finnish track and field athlete, he basically fulfills the international criteria for a medal favorite.
In the Finnish athletics discussion, the emphasis is all too often on the best result of the season, when the focus should be on taking several races, with an emphasis on the results before the value races.
Meeting these criteria is enough work for Tervo, who has been through a crazy year. If the 26-year-old athlete maintains the balance found in the end of the season, he has a good chance of success at the World Cup.
The potential associated with the maximum throw is already known.
Sweden match on channels 30.–31.8. on TV2, Areena, Radio in Finland and the app. Shipping information here.