Every Finnish World Championship para-athlete reached the top eight – a gap in the future of the successful sport of track curling, says an expert

The Finnish para-athletics team won six medals and six Paralympic places at the World Championships in Paris. Toni from Piispa became a double medalist when he took bronze in the T51 category in the 100m and silver in the 200m.

Sports representative of the Finnish Sports Association Mikko Peltonen said that before the games, he made three scenarios of what the team could achieve, and one of them came true.

– It is extremely good because the medals have come. Another good thing is the country spots for next year’s Paris Paralympics, they have now arrived, Peltonen said.

Although Piispanen took two medals, he brought Finland “only” one place according to the rules. Places were allocated to the four best, so in the length of the F12 class Iida Lounela achieved this in his fourth place. There was also a competitor in the length final of the F38 class nearby Vilma Bergwho finished fifth in his first adult competition and was only two centimeters short of a Paralympic place.

– These were the toughest competitions in para-athletics. We saw a lot of world records and you can see the growth of the sport. This four-country competition system is great because it attracts the best and fittest athletes to the games, Urheilu’s expert Tuomas Törrönen stated.

Of the ten athletes on the Finnish team, seven were experienced paraathletes, three were first-timers. Törrönen reminded that everyone succeeded in their main sport by placing in the top eight.

– Sure, there are failures in side sports, and from the point of view of an individual athlete, not everything went well, but in the big picture, that’s a good result. When another 60 percent acquire land, that’s also good, Törrönen said.

– In a way, this gives the sign that we are on the right path. However, it does not guarantee anything.

The march of young people made me happy

The team talked about these World Cups as “Paris number one”. From “Paris second”, i.e. with an eye on next summer’s Paralympics, the results of the first place are promising. The team includes long-term successes, but also new, promising newcomers. It was the march of young athletes that made both Pelto and Törrö happy.

– Iida Lounela is just learning and growing towards the top and Vilma Berg’s development curve has been great, because she has had a difficult training season. His time will come, Törrönen assured.

One interesting athlete in the team was 42 years old Teijo Köpikkä, who now competed for the first time in the prestigious para sports competition. 24 years ago, Kööpikka won bronze in the under-20 European Athletics Championships.

– Even though he is not young in the light of the numbers, as a para athlete he is young. He is an important example that even in adulthood you can become a para athlete, Peltonen stated and said that he believes that Kööpikä’s story has only just begun.

Finland’s medals were once again provided by familiar names ie Amanda Kotaja, Leo-Pekka Tähti, Marjaana Heikkinen and Bishop. In Törrönen’s opinion, the experienced guard has shown that they have enough motivation at least for the Paralympics in Paris, why not longer.

– Amanda Kotaja’s situation is excellent. He is living the peak of his elite sports career right now. He has surrounded himself with people he trusts and with whom results are achieved. It’s good for him. It shines everywhere, Törrönen said of the recent world champion.

Tähti has already won everything possible, as has Piispanen. Heikkinen also has valuable competition medals from the Paralympics, World Championships and European Championships. Still, they are constantly thinking about how they could become even better.

In Törrönen’s opinion, the same attitude was also noticeable in the other athletes of the team.

– I think that the most disappointed athlete of the Finnish team is Henry Manni. The world level has probably advanced the most in 100 meters in this class (T34), and he had problems with the device in 800 meters, Törrönen said.

– He didn’t reach the ground in 100 meters, and now he has a really difficult place to get to Paris at all.

Manni has achieved 17 prestigious race medals in his career, but now had to settle for one hundred instead of seventh.

The Chinese are surprisingly lazy

The road to the Paralympics is extremely tight. Now in Paris, places in the Paralympic categories were allocated to the top four, next spring’s World Championships in Kobe, places will be allocated to the top two.

– The qualification path to Paris is tougher than it was to, for example, Tokyo or Rio. It means that we really have to succeed. These competitions have been really important, Mikko Peltonen said.

Tuomas Törrönen drew attention to how the Chinese athletes, who usually celebrated at the top of the medal table, were in Paris. Of course, China won the medal table with 43 medals, while in the previous games it had achieved 59 medals and in the previous 65 medals. Törrönen believes that one of the reasons is the so-called High Performance Standard or HPS result limit. This system allocates places to 27 male and 30 female athletes.

– Then results can be made in ranking competitions, and they don’t have to come to compete in Europe. And the bigger number of hard results a country gets from these games, the more places it gets through the ratio. It suits the Chinese, who have an insane number of para-athletes, Törrönen said.

In Finland, the number of para-athletes has grown and developed, but it is still small in international comparison. According to Peltonen and Törrönen, para athletes enjoy appreciation, but work must be done constantly.

– There is a lot of good in this national para-athletics team, but also a lot of bad in the big picture. Right now it looks good when experienced athletes bring medals, Törrönen said.

– If we think 10 years ahead, then maybe there won’t be, especially on the track winding side. There will inevitably be a gap when the current highs end at some point. And that hole is perhaps deeper than we think now.

Peltonen reminds that in para-athletics the whole is different from the side of the disabled. On the plus side, the costs are higher, among other things.

– The fact is that we really need a lot of para athletes. We try to get them involved in the activity and thereby on the path of top sports. It should be noted that even if we are not talking about para-peak sports, an individual’s daily performance improves with sports. It costs society significantly less, Peltonen reminded.