Finnish judo got a jackpot when Rok Draksic was appointed head coach. Martti Puumalainen’s tournament win, coached by a Slovenian, is one of the toughest Finnish sports achievements of the year, writes Pekka Holopainen.
Pekka Holopainen Sports journalist
In December 2019, news appeared on the website of the Finnish Judo Association that delighted the sports fans. A hugely respected sports legend Seppo Myllylä had been chosen as the new head coach on the recommendation of the coaching committee with a very cost-effective contract for the small league. Myllylä, which has become prosperous through business transactions committed to work practically from the ground floor.
Behind it was a very heavy disappointment, because the tailboard of the qualifying time for the Tokyo Olympic Games was closed, and Finland had not reached a single place in the tournament.
Judo joined the summer Olympic family permanently in Munich in 1972, and Finland had always had a representative or representatives. The Olympic medal came close in 1992; incredibly athletic in time trial sports Jorma Korhonen would have been said to have lost the historical slop in the comparison of hundredths.
Short talks
One of the finest figures in the history of Finnish martial arts, Myllylä’s talks with the black-faced athletes were short-lived. From the end of spring 2020, judo news was also included among the corona stories: the new head coach would be a young Slovenian Rok Draksica former top competitor and a guy who has merited even as a coach.
Myllylä was ousted in a controversial board vote of 7–3 in the case of the union, which even led to the departure of prominent persons from positions of trust in the organization.
When more than three years have passed since these cabinet reshuffles, it can be sadly said that this time the majority of the government knew what they were doing.
From Draksic’s team Martti Puumalainen with the victory of the Masters tournament in Hungary, he practically secured his place in the Olympic Games in Paris 2024. In terms of distribution of ranking points, only the World Championship tournament is more generous than the Masters, where almost the entire elite of the class competed in Puumalainen’s weight class. In the history of Finnish judo, Tokyo 2021 is going to remain a beauty flaw.
Superlatives for the coach
After his victory, there was no end to Puumalainen’s exaggerations towards Draksic. In the same way that in last week’s column I wrote about centralizing the amazing activities of the Finnish swimmers in the Helsinki Urhea Academy, in judo this choice has been a completely winning hand.
Mäkelänrinte’s state-of-the-art fighting facilities are used by the country’s judo champions for support. I remember how Puumalai is still heard about.
Next year’s Olympic Games are being marketed to the French as the opening approaches, especially with the following: the new king of swimming Leon Marchandthe men’s national basketball team strongly challenging the USA – and judoka Teddy Rinerwho is aiming for his third gold medal in the heaviest category at his home games.
26 medal countries
In Finland, the sport, which is rarely covered in the media, belongs to the giants of the summer Olympic family, both in terms of geographical distribution and the number of enthusiasts. As many as 26 countries won medals in the rock-hard Olympic tournament in Tokyo. For comparison, in swimming, for example, another mega-sport, there were only 20 such countries. The Puumainen’s trick is the hardest in Finnish sports this year.
The recent history of Finnish elite sports proves that a foreign head coach is definitely not an automatic rainmaker. Completely empty lotteries have faded to the ground behind the borders, but also on the other hand of Magnar Dalen or Mauro Berruto like full hits. Of course, the best also always know how to time their laundry perfectly as if by instinct.
Rok Draksic is rapidly rising to this elite caste. The Finnish judoka is a medal candidate in the Olympic Games organized by France, one of the great countries of the sport. This was certainly not the view that opened from the window of the union’s toraisa cabinet at the beginning of 2020.
It should also be noted that Seppo Myllylä has not in any way condescended to sand the young head coach’s path after his ouster, on the contrary. In Mäkelänrintine, a big story is being built for the entire species family.
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