Enni Virjonen won the Junior European Championship gold in showmanship, even though he failed miserably in one sport. He was proud of his top performance on the final day.
17-year-old septuagenarian Enni Virjonen competed on Friday evening in Slovakia for the Junior European Champion. The championship came in overwhelming style (6,151) with a difference of almost 350 points from Britain Thea to Brown (5,807).
At the club level, the junior athlete representing the Turku Sports Association improved his age group SE result at the beginning of the summer by 200 points. Before this year, SE for under-18s was Saga Vannisen on behalf of.
Virjonen still looked pensive for a while after the 800 meters of the last event. In Kas, he was two and a half seconds away from his record of 2:23.51.
– I would have liked a little harder time from Kasi. It hasn’t been the best run tactically. I felt that I could have done better. In the end, however, the time was not as bad as I thought, says the good-natured Virjonen.
It is a sign of a strong top athlete that there was room for improvement after such a clear victory. In a match, it is extremely difficult to succeed perfectly in all sports.
– You usually don’t succeed in everything. Maybe someday it will be possible to make such a match. This certainly became a valuable lesson. It was such a varied match. There were big failures, but also big successes.
Virjonen was delighted with the reception ceremony at the hotel.
– We have a really great team spirit. It felt great when everyone had come. It was great, Virjonen expressed the mood and said that he will follow the finals in the cheerleading squad.
“I was like, what the hell”
Virjonen went to the Junior European Championships as a clear early favorite. He started the 100-meter hurdles in the opening event convincingly with a new junior SE time of 13.12.
In the second sport, there was a failure in height, when the Finn, who exceeded 177 at his best, was 20 centimeters lower in height. However, Virjonen showed his fierce competitor’s qualities by producing successful performances both in the shot put and in the 200 meters.
On the second day, in the javelin, Virjonen stretched tremendously and improved his record by nine meters to a top reading of 51.59. This is the best javelin result of the Junior European Championships in 7 matches.
– After the height, I had to collect quite a lot. Mother (coach Petra Virjonen) by your side that it can still go well. The spear was a big surprise for me. Came at the perfect time.
– From behind the spear, you couldn’t quite see how far the stick went. I thought maybe 46 or 47. But it was 51 meters. I was like, what the hell! I still can’t believe it, Virjonen says excitedly.
Virjonen slightly injured his leg in the long jump in the last event. He was afraid of how it would affect the final match.
– There was a bit of rage, louder than usual. I stepped over the board enough that it slid over. The knee gave out in the effort, and it hurt a lot. However, the pain eased relatively quickly. I didn’t think about it at the end of the match.
However, according to Virjonen, there is nothing alarming about the leg. He was able to walk normally in the morning.
– The season will certainly continue. However, the leg did not bend, which is a good thing.
To new instruments
The under-18 series has lighter equipment than the women’s series, both in the shot put and the javelin. In fences, the fence height is lower.
It was the last race of Virjonen’s career in that 7 match. Next year, she will compete in the 7-match under-20 series, where women’s equipment is used.
For the rest of the season, Virjonen competes in individual sports. In the fall, he starts practicing with adult equipment.
Virjonen does not want to speculate on what kind of points she would get in the women’s match now. Vanninen, who only took victories in the youth competition, four years older, scored 5,861 at Virjonen’s age.
– I believe that I will improve next year. I can’t estimate how much the tools contribute to the points. Hopefully as much as possible.