22-year-old Sini Pöyry was one of the successful Finnish team 20 years ago at the European Championships in Munich, when she finished fifth in the floor final. Today, Pöyry follows the sport mostly from the media and through his father.
Laura Arffman,
Anu Karttunen
14:16•Updated 14:16
The European Championship week in Munich can be seen on channels from August 11 to 21. You can find live broadcasts, highlights, the competition schedule, interesting news and topics on ‘s competition page.
Blue Oven (b Turmoil) in the late 1990s won two European European Championship silver medals in the shot put and was only three centimeters away from the world championship in the World Youth Championships. In the adult series, Uunila already made a splash at the Sydney Olympics at the turn of the millennium. The athlete, who was doing voluntary military service at the time, finished 12th in the final.
Two years later, Uunila was one of the successful players of the Finnish team, when she finished fifth at the European Championships in Munich. That ranking remained Uunila’s best in adult competitions, as her career in the following EC, WC and Olympic Games ended with qualification. However, it is still the best ranking of Finnish women in moukari.
Uunila ended her career ten years ago, having before that achieved seven WC golds, three silvers and four bronzes and a record score of 69.16.
After her sports career, Uunila has remarried, raised her two school-aged children in Seinäjoki. He also has a position in the Seinäjoki traffic police, but has been on sick leave since last fall.
– I got leukemia, i.e. blood cancer. I was in the hospital a lot in the fall and winter, but now it looks really good. I’m at home, but still on sick leave, Uunila told Urheilu.
Uunila has been able to keep her spirits up and the situation with leukemia seems better, even though it is a difficult and easily relapsing disease. Uunila is under close monitoring, and her health is “just fine”.
– I have a very good feeling and have had faith the whole time. I enjoy being at home and being busy with the kids. It’s pointless to worry about this going forward.
“Where would Finland get endurance runners from?”
It has already been 20 years since the European Championships in Munich, but Sini Uunila still has many good memories of the Games. And not just good for its results.
Uunila remembers well how the Finnish team stayed in the Olympic village intended for the 1972 Munich Olympics. At that time, exactly 30 years had passed since the Games, but so had the terrorist attack that took place during the Games.
The athletes wondered if something could happen this time as well, but the security measures were very good at the games.
When the women’s moukari race was over, Uunila went with the other team members to watch the races and cheer on her teammates. He still remembers the medalists of different sports very well.
One occasion has been well remembered by Uunila. There was only the men’s marathon left, but the Finnish team had already held the closing ceremony.
– Already deceased Ilkka Kanerva praised the team a lot and said that where would you get endurance runners in Finland. Someone there stood up and said: the marathon is half way and Janne Holmen to lead. Gold then came to Finland from there, Uunila said.
There was nothing left to worry about
Sini Uunila was 22 years old at the time of the European Championships in Munich. However, he had experience in the qualifiers, but in the adult series he had only reached the finals once before.
In Munich, Uunila went quite far on her first try – but she narrowly missed the sector. However, this did not make him nervous.
– I don’t remember exactly anything other than that I had a good feeling in that race. When the throw goes well, it also feels easy. Most of the time, it’s those long throws that want to go over the sector, Uunila said.
– I wasn’t nervous because I still had two throws left.
Uunila admits that she did not always succeed in qualifying. However, in value competitions, he was always able to go into extra gear and throw at least to his own, normal level.
The women’s moukari final took place in Munich in the morning. According to Uunila, it was very typical that the women’s moukari was thrown at a different time than the other sports, and even in value competitions the moukari final could be thrown before the other sports.
The Moukar women were used to this, and Uunila was mostly excited by the fact that she got to throw with the best throwers in the world and Europe. In the final, he really faced the world’s best, because the three best throwers of that year also won EC medals.
World number one, Russia Olga Kuzenkova threw a race record 72.94 and won the championship. Second woman, from Poland Kamila Skolimowska threw 72.46 and took silver. Third in the world ranking, France Manuela Montebrun was also able to break the 72-meter mark with a four-centimeter trot and took the bronze medal.
France was still wedged in front of the oven Florence Ezeh, who threw his record 68.03 in the final. Uunila threw her best 67.47 on her first throw and made a fairly even series 67.47 – 66.73 – 67.05 – 64.13 – 65.76 – 65.85.
– All the medalists threw so far that I never got to throw that far. There was nothing left to worry about. “Instead of fourth, I should have improved my previous record (68.28), Uunila said.
– I didn’t quite make it to the record, but I wasn’t very far behind either.
Development had to come
The level of women’s moukari has risen in the last two or three years both internationally and in Finland. Whereas the top pitchers of the early 2000s, Sini Uunilan, Merja Korpelan and Mia Puuska (b Strommer) records carried more than 69 meters, today a more than 70-meter top rope is needed.
This season, four Finnish women – Krista Tervo, Silja Kosonen, Sara Killinen and Suvi Koskinen – has broken the 70 meter limit and Tervo’s SE readings have carried 74.40.
Uunila has followed the development of women’s moukari with joy and is looking forward to how the sport will move forward. He reminds that in 20 years development should have come, but especially the strong development of several women warms his heart.
Uunila herself is no longer involved with the bigger sport, but her father who coached her throughout her career Jarmo Pöyry to coach some more.
– From him I hear rumors about the throwers. I also read newspapers and sometimes watch the games on TV. At least I always follow the value races now, he assured.
In connection with the broadcasts of the European Championships in Munich, a series of stories will be presented, which will tell more about the news of the Finnish winners of 2002. In addition to Uunila, Janne Holmén, Mikaela Ingberg, Markus Pöyhö and Olli-Pekka Karjalai have been interviewed in the series.