Regardless of where the puck lands, one thing is certain: Eveliina Salonen the smile doesn’t freeze. It seems to be sensitive, whether it’s a long shooting day or the deciding moments of a major tournament.
– If I try to take things too seriously, it doesn’t go well, Salonen justifies with a hearty laugh.
He is the only Finnish frisbee golfer who has won the sport’s major tournament, even twice. In addition to his hard results and his cheerful expression, he is known in sports circles for the fact that he is diligently on his phone even during competitions.
Sometimes we also wonder about it. Salonen says that monitoring the results while the competition lasts is important to him.
– The cliche “I play my own game and see what it takes” is not enough for me. I want to win and therefore I want to know what it takes at any given time. Okay, sometimes it can be stressful, but at least I know how to throw. You can’t even play futs without knowing how many goals you have to score if a guy leads with three goals, Salonen compares.
Salonen also reveals that she sometimes communicates with her friends and her little sister during the competition.
– Friends often follow the competition live and I communicate with them about the sport and the competition. I go through normal things with my sister. This also happened in the final round of the major tournament. When I go to the launch site, I always reset my thoughts.
There is one more thing that Salonen got noticed for in recent seasons. He was plagued by persistent dandruff, which even led to thoughts of ending his career.
– I think I missed approximately 30 putts in one competition. That’s a shocking number of handicaps for others, while I still ended up only losing about 10 rolls. Maybe it kept the motivation up, on the other hand.
According to Salonen, he has also thrown a meter past the entire basket. At the beginning, he thought it was a technical fault and just continued to putt. Changing technique or changing putters didn’t work.
The putter was as if glued to the hand and, according to Salonen, there was no hope that the throw would have gone straight.
– It took a long time to accept that it could be a spiritual matter. The situation was more difficult to fix than a technical fault, because it was inside the head. In the end, even in a competitive situation, I could already start thinking in advance about possible social media comments about my putting problems.
The goal is the world championship
Salonen says that his putting comb started at the 2021 European Championships in the Czech Republic. At that point, he had seen a similar situation with only one player and even wondered about it.
In the WC championships in Oulu, which followed the European championships, the putting problem repeated itself and finally turned into a tenacious troll that had plagued him for more than two years.
Salonen already achieved his first major tournament victory in the 2018 season and for a long time it seemed that it would also be his only one.
Puttikammo started to recede at the end of last season and Salonen started this year with a bang by winning the pro tour race in Florida. He crowned his spring season with the second major tournament victory of his career in April in Illinois.
– The win at the beginning of the year was important because it proved that winning is still possible. It was the most important thing for me, but it was also nice to show the doubters. When I started Frisbee golf, I decided that I wanted to be a world champion. I also feel that it is very possible, if everything just works out.
Salonen’s sports background is diverse. He started motocross at the age of three, followed by football and floorball.
Currently, in addition to bread, her hobbies include crossfit, golf and padel, which she plays in the women’s league team from Tampere. In the winter, the sports repertoire has also included ice hockey. Salonen recognizes himself as a kind of feel-good enthusiast.
– I do what interests me. I usually get excited about a new sport where I quickly notice that I am improving.
With the success of frisbee golf, Salos has also become a role model for new and existing sports enthusiasts. He himself got to know the sport at the age of 12.
– My friend and I found gas station level Frisbee golf discs. Neither of us knew anything about the sport before, but we went to the track to throw. Pretty quickly I got hooked and got real discs. Then I went with my father to the weekly races to try it out. The following summer, I went throwing almost every day, unless I was in football training.
Salonen is happy that Frisbee golf has found new juniors, especially girls. She says that when she started the sport, she was the only girl in the group.
– I played with boys and men. It warms the heart to see girls throwing and watching the games and cheering.
Salonen, who has been competing in the United States for about half of the season, received $9,500 in prize money from his April major win. Winner of the open series in the same competition Andrew Presnell received $15,000.
– I think this sport is quite equal. I understand that the men get a bit more prize money because there are more players as well.
On the day of the shooting, the pucks thrown by Salonen find the basket effectively, almost without exception.
– Now that reality has been revealed! he exclaims as he picks up the puck that got lost in the willow bush and laughs sweetly at it.
On Sunday, Salonen celebrated his fifth Finnish championship in Sipoo. There are only as many championships for women Henna with Blomroos and Anne Valsilla.
The next major competition for Salonen is the European Open, which will be played in Tampere and Nokia on the 18th-21st. July.