At the beginning of February, Eveliina Määttänen ran 800 meters with a time of 2:01.57, but that might not even be accepted as a Finnish record.
Eveliina Määttänen ran at the beginning of February in Torun, Poland, in an international competition for 800 meters with a time of 2:01.57. It is the fastest time ever run by a Finnish woman in 800 meters on an indoor track.
The result has been accepted in the international World Athletics ranking, but in Finland it is not valid for statistics. What on earth?
– If the competition license is not valid in the games, the result is not valid for statistics, says the competition manager of the Finnish Sports Federation Mika Muukka.
The issue is that Määttänen’s competition license had been inadvertently left unpaid, i.e. the competition license was not valid when he ran in Poland. In foreign competitions, a license is not required. Määttänen has not competed in Finland this season.
The license payment policy changed a few years ago. While before only clubs took care of license fees, nowadays they are either the athlete’s or the club’s responsibility, depending on the club’s own policy. Licenses are currently paid through the digital Suomisport service of the Olympic Committee.
SUL has tightened its line regarding licenses.
– The athletes had quite a lot of unpaid licenses, so we adopted a stricter policy in this matter, says Muukka.
Is Määttänen’s result an official Finnish record?
– It has not been processed, it is still in the process, says Muukka.
You cannot compete in domestic competitions if the athlete’s license has not been paid.
However, SUL’s separate Finnish record rules do not mention anything about competition licenses. Internationally, Määttänen’s result is listed in WA’s ranking, so it is a question of a national level decision.
– We are in a pretty difficult situation, says Muukka.
All the domestic SE results of this winter’s different series will only be made official at the meeting of SUL’s competition committee in May.
– Of course we are waiting for the union’s decision. If we go according to the rules, then we go, says Eveliina Määttänen’s Espoo Tapioen’s head of coaching Jorma Kemppainen.
A recent international example of the jungle of rules in athletics is by Christopher Morales Williams Rejection of the 400m ME. The 19-year-old Canadian clocked a time of 44.49 in Fayetteville, but it was not accepted as ME because the starting stands used in the race did not comply with the rules of the International Association of Athletics Federations.
Määttänen’s SE result can therefore be rejected or accepted. The final decision is made by SUL’s competition committee.