Maria Huntington, who has recovered from injuries, ran promisingly in Tampere on Friday. The 26-year-old seventh-ranked athlete wants to be at his best in the Olympic year 2024.
A septuagenarian of Maria Huntington his sports career was on a strong upswing in 2019. In that year, he set his 7-game record, among other things.
The 6,339 points at the Kaleva Games in Lappeeranta qualified Finland for three places in the all-time statistics. Huntington seemed to be on his way to the European elite of his sport.
The talented fighter has been plagued by injuries in recent years. A lot of Huntington’s difficulties are told by the fact that the last time he finished the match was at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
Last season in particular was marred by injuries.
While the streak hasn’t been broken, Huntington says 2020 and 2021 included some positives. Two years ago, he posted his second-best hitting streak of 6,318.
– In those years, I was able to play sports in good health. I made sport records. Last season was really difficult when I didn’t get to compete at all.
An encouraging message
The starting points for last winter’s training season were challenging. He was recovering from surgery last fall.
– In January, I had another small injury to my leg. There have been injuries, but in a surprisingly short time I have been able to build a good condition.
On Friday, Huntington received an encouraging message about his condition. He ran 13.29 in the 100-meter hurdles at the Tampere regional championships.
It is the second best season opening of the 26-year-old player’s career. He missed his record by two tenths.
– For many months or weeks, I haven’t been able to do a full-fledged training. I feel confident that we will be in good shape towards the end of the summer.
The competition was Huntington’s first since June of last year.
– There has been a lot of fear during the spring about what if something happens again. Yesterday was a relief in terms of the fact that this is going to be good. I can stay healthy and really do sports without pain.
In the best shape at the Olympics
Huntington competed in Tampere only in hurdles. As for the match, his racing season starts next weekend in Götzis, Austria. It is a respected tradition of matches.
– I often said before the games that I wanted to go and make a strong result. It’s important even now, but above all I want to see the match through. I want to be healthy after that and really enjoy being able to compete again. This has been the thing I haven’t been able to do for a long time.
Huntington doesn’t know how to judge where he will go in terms of results in the match. He believes that fitness improves by competing.
– The Kaleva Games are on my mind, which are a good couple of months away. I hope you can just get your fitness up there.
Huntington enters the season with the mentality that he will get good ranking points for the World Championships in Budapest. However, it is not the number one priority of the season.
– You could think that this is the Intermediate season with the Olympics in mind. I hope I can have an intact season and a good result, but next year is the most important. You can’t say maybe it’s an interim period, but next year you should be in good shape.