Cross-country European Championships on Sunday at Areena from 10:30 a.m. and as a combined broadcast on TV2 from 6:40 p.m.
Top Raitanen will run his first race since the 3,000-meter European Championship final in Munich on Sunday, when he will participate in the mixed relay of the Torino European Championships. In addition to Raitanen, the Finnish mixed relay team includes Camilla Richardson, Viola Westling and Joonas Rinne.
The message consists of four 1.5 kilometer sections. Finland is participating in this message for the first time.
Raitanen ran as the European steeplechase champion on August 19. Shortly after the Games, the star runner fell ill with the corona virus and the season ended there. Raitanen’s coach Janne Ukonmaanahon according to the athlete, it took a relatively long time to recover from the corona virus. The practice break got longer.
The EC terrains held at the end of the year have often been included in Raitanen’s program. In 2017, he finished eighth in the under-23 category.
Due to the after-effects of the coronavirus, the duo opted for the relay instead of the individual race.
– That’s how long it took to recover from it. If you want to succeed in the overall series in the EC terrains, you have to be in the last place. The goal was quickly set to get the team to the European Championships.
Ukonmaanaho says that Raitanen’s condition has improved a lot during the fall.
– The alpine lodge episode in Urhea went really well. Let’s say that Topi is in his normal autumn condition.
Ukonmaanaho wants the sport culture of cross-country running in Finland to move forward. Raitase plays a big role in that.
– It’s nice that Topi has bought into the same idea and wants to be part of the team.
Next summer at risk
At the beginning of the year, Raitanen will go to a training camp in South Africa, where he has been several times in recent years. At the beginning of March, the EC Halls will be held in Belgrade, Serbia.
Raitanen was in the European Championships in 2019, when he ran the 3,000-meter smooth. However, Raitanen will probably miss this year’s EC halls.
– The winter competition calendar will probably be a combination of road and indoor competitions. Basically, the idea is not to run in EC halls, Ukonmaanaho says.
The decision is based on the idea of a new kind of emphasis. In previous years, Raitanen has been aiming for top condition so that he will be in good shape by the end of the summer.
– The goal is to get in peak condition a little earlier than in previous years. In 2024, the European Championships will be at the beginning of June, followed by the Olympics. We train to make the run one degree more ready in June-July.
– Topi has always run very well in Paavo Nurme’s competitions, but the running has been a bit clumsy. Now in the spring, we’re looking for top condition to come out earlier in the summer and we’ll see how well I can maintain it until the World Championships. In a certain way, you can say that we are now going to next summer’s World Cup with a risk, so that the beginning of summer would be better.
The World Championships will be held at the end of August in Budapest.
Expectations of success in youth leagues
Finland has a total of ten runners in the European Championships. Camilla Richardsson contracted a personal trip to the Games and a relay. Ukonmaanaho says that the mixed relay team is not yet the best possible. In the coming years, the team has to be appointed Sara Lappalainen, by Nathalie Blomqvist mixed Ilona Mononen like talented middle distance runners.
Joonas Rintee, on the other hand, does not have much experience in cross-country running.
– Sara, Ilona and Nathalie would basically be the hardest names in terms of women’s shares. For Joonas, this is in a certain way a new dimension. Tonnivitone’s cross-country races are generally quite few, Ukonmaanaho states.
Ukonmaanaho sees that the Finnish mixed relay team can fight for places 5–7. The strongest expectations for success are aimed at Ilona Monose, who runs in the under-20 category, who was fourth a year ago. Nathalie Blomqvist, who runs in the under-23 series, is also a potential name.
– Ilona has every chance for a medal. Last year it was close. Nathalie ran really well in the PM terrains and she has invested well in the EC terrains. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was in the top 8.
Ukonmaanaho also believes that Finland has a good team contribution in the under-23 men’s series. They are involved in that Eemil Helander, Mika Kotiranta and Mustafa Muuse.
Ukonmaanaho would have liked to see the EC terrains in the under-20 boys series Mikko Kauppinenwho is still a yellow beak as an endurance runner.
– In my opinion, Mikko Kauppinen should have been chosen. The under-20 series will be at an extremely high level for the Nordics. Mikko was seventh in the PM terrains on a very difficult route, losing about 30 seconds to the front. He would have run to a good place, Ukonmaanaho refers to the EC terrains.
Several top international names will also be seen on the EC grounds. The brightest name is the Norwegian scarecrow Jakob Ingebrigtsen.