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Sports Federation GM Jani Tanskanen and hurdler Annimari Korte on May 26, at the Helsinki Zoo’s sports field, they had very different ideas about whether the hurdler would still like to compete in the European Championships in Rome, if it became possible.
Tanskanen was left with the impression that the former SE woman, who reached the final time of 13.26, ended her career in that competition and did not announce Kortetta as a reserve athlete for the women’s 100-meter hurdles, which was formed by the EC trio Reetta Hurske, Lotta Harala and Nooralotta Neziri.
Korte was also a fully eligible athlete who would have been allowed to run directly in the semi-finals in Rome.
Two out of four in place
When Nooralotta Neziri unexpectedly announced that she would not be able to compete in Rome due to an injury, Finland was suddenly in a situation where it had only two out of four eligible athletes in Rome.
Kortetta could no longer be selected because he had not been announced as a reserve athlete by the deadline – May 29 at 2 p.m. Italian time.
Athlete did not swallow his fate without a murmur.
– I think that Jani Tanskanen should have remained under the impression that my so-called termination notice was related to the fact that the Zoo’s results were disappointing. I hit a fence, but for my health I could have run a much better time. I made it clear that he would understand that I still wanted to compete in Rome if it became possible. I was very specific and articulate in our conversation at the Zoo. Against this background, I cannot completely understand that I was not named as a reserve athlete, Korte commented to Urheilu.
He says that the Sports Federation was not the only body that reacted quickly. According to Kortte, anti-doping supervisor Suek informed him early last week that the athlete no longer belongs to the so-called testing pool. Suek’s test manager Katja Huotari does not comment on the matter; he says that the matters in question are covered by confidentiality.
“I would have been able to compete”
Court coach Mikael Ylöstalo states that the athlete would have been able to compete in Rome even at a fairly good level.
– After the Zoo competition, Annimari has gone to practice on the field twice. The days have generally been varied throughout the season, at best he has been able to perform really well in training. It’s a shame that he wasn’t announced as a substitute and Finland will miss out on a place.
GM Tanskanen tells Urheilu that he was left with the impression on Sunday, May 26 that Korte will put the spikes in the closet for the last time. He admits that this perception would not have prevented him from announcing Kortte as a reserve athlete for the EC.
– This should have been done with this information, admits Tanskanen, who exchanged several messages with Kortte and also communicated by phone after the incident.
In the eyes of the sports system and bureaucracy, an athlete does not become a retired athlete just because he tells the public about it. The status of a retired athlete is preceded, for example, by a written notification to Suek, possibly to the Ministry of Education that pays the grant, and to their own sports organization.
The man from Tajikistan decided
The final decision on Kortte’s fate was made by the competition director of the European Athletics Federation, who is from Tajikistan Vadim Nigmatov. He was appealed to by a member of the organization’s board Antti Pilhakoski:
– I turned over all the stones, but Vadim was adamant. He strictly followed the European Athletics Federation’s manual on the matter and did nothing wrong. Since the registration and confirmation of registrations had expired, no one could be included from outside the reserve places. He was very consistent about it, despite my best efforts.
Does not make statements
Nigmatov informed Urheilu that, as an operational person, he does not want to make media statements about the matter.
Pihlakoski apologized in a message to Korttee for what happened, but did not blame Denmark.
– Yes, the athlete’s communication about the matter could also be interpreted in the way that Jani did it.
According to Pihlakoski, Kortte’s case does not completely compare to that of French runners, ie Azeddine Habzin and Simon Bedard’s to the case where the French sports federation completely forgot to register the duo for the games. Mignatov’s task force decided to admit both of them to Rome.
– It was completely a technical error by the union. Still, one can speculate that if Annimari’s case had been entered into the system at the same time, as if in the same mill, perhaps the result could have been different. But at that moment Nooralotta was still going to the games, Pihlakoski sees.