Athletics Championship indoor competitions in Tampere 17.–18.2.2024. Live broadcast of Sunday’s events at Areena starting at 11:45. follows the events on its website in this article.
TAMPERE. A redshirt Lotta Kemppinen starts from the shot of the starting gun like a cannon, but during the acceleration phase he bumps and is about to fall. However, the runner keeps his balance and wins the 60-meter Finnish championship.
– I felt like I was going to crash, but I was still able to fix it, Kemppinen described his initial acceleration.
On Saturday evening in Tampere, he finally left the SM hall with a time of 7.34.
A week ago in Helsinki, Kemppinen ran the season’s best domestic time of 7.25.
– For a long time it felt like my own doing, because I got to the right corner at the start and it was possible to make a good run.
The result limit for the MM halls in Glasgow on the 60-meter straight is 7.19. Kemppinen’s SE time is 7.16. He still has a small chance of joining through the ranking.
– I would love to show my face to the value races, but if there aren’t many dropouts, I don’t think I will run there.
“I would like a positive season nowâ€
The 25-year-old Kemppinen has not been able to improve his summer season records for a few years. His 100-meter record is 11.33 from 2021. Kemppinen fell out of the grants awarded by the Ministry of Education and Culture and out of the top group of the Finnish Sports Federation.
– At the same time, I dropped out of scholarships and Team Finland. Of course, it takes a toll financially.
Team Finland is the “first team†of Finnish athletics and after that comes the national team group, in which Kemppinen is still involved.
– I hope that I will be able to achieve such results that I will get back up (to Team Finland), Kemppinen says.
The last few years have been challenging for Kemppinen.
– Now I would like such a positive, good season.
Although Kemppinen is known as a laughing athlete, in recent years he has been in deep waters.
– Mostly I try to stay positive. I feel that it doesn’t help if you start wallowing in the bottom mud.
The Helsinki native knows how to turn bad feelings into an asset.
– I have tried to direct my thoughts to other things, such as studying, says the Master of Food Sciences.
Kemppistä, who is studying for a doctorate, has been frustrated when he has not been able to measure his peak fitness.
– It may be that you work all year, but you don’t get paid for what you have done. This is the worst possible job, Kemppinen laughs and continues that it can also be the other way around.
– You can measure everything and have a peak season.
Nerve pain
In the winter of 2021, Kemppinen surprised everyone and won European Championship silver in Torun, Poland, with a smooth 60-meter distance. He quickly rose to the elite of Finnish sprinting.
But in the same summer of 2021, he had to miss the Olympic Games.
– I tore a plantaris tendon in my right foot in the summer of 2021 and that took the Olympic trip.
In the winter of the following year, Kemppinen was again in top condition and ran 60 meters indoors with a time of 7.17.
– I would say that I was in better shape in the 2022 hall season, but it so happened that I had a small tear in my hamstring before the hall season began.
Despite his injury, he ran 60 meters with a top time of 7.17.
In the summer of 2022, he suffered from problems in the Achilles tendon region, and was unable to compete.
– It was a really heavy summer.
Kemppisen has had problems with his ankles.
– I have really stiff ankles. It is a curse and a salvation. I really like the acceleration step, because my ankle doesn’t give out at all.
In recent years, Kemppinen has suffered from unexplained pains related to his legs.
– It’s a really intense pain that comes. It can be a pulse that comes with one step and then it can disappear completely.
– We still don’t know what it is. But we know how to keep it under control. We live with it.
Two coaches
Kemppinen’s training has received a new kick, and there is a positive mood in doing so. Kemppinen joined last fall Mikael Ylöstalon to the coaching team.
– †Mikel†has a really good technical eye and there is also a really nice group to train with, Kemppinen praises.
– The start has been filed quite a lot, as well as the rhythm of vertical running. We are going in the right direction, says Ylästalo, who is responsible for the running exercises.
The coaching responsibility is shared with Ylöstalo Mervi of Brandenburg with. Brandenburg has been Kemppinen’s coach for 15 years and he writes Kemppinen’s training programs.
Last summer, Kemppinen already had his faith restored in what he was doing. He ran in June in Estonia with a time of 11.40. Kemppisen has the qualities for much better times, if he could compete healthy.
– When he was healthy, he probably would have already run the initial result of 11.2 in the 100 meters, Brandenburg estimates.
Last summer, Kemppinen clocked 11.40 in the best 100 meters. His record is 11.33, from summer 2021.