Athletics’ Tampere indoor competition in Areena at 17:55 and on TV2 from 19:15.
A fencer Nooralotta Neziri changed coaches last fall and now trains in his old hometown in Pori. New coach Samir Demnati35, is now doing the athlete’s training programs.
The coaching team also includes Nezir’s common-law partner Ville-Matti Rantala, who has accompanied Aturi closely in competitions and training for almost eight years. Neziri also answers more about his own coaching.
– I think this has been an extremely good pattern. I feel that I am doing very well mentally and physically at the moment, Neziri describes his new situation.
Nezir’s coach Demnati still runs actively himself. At his best, he has run 100 meters with a time of 10.88.
– If we are still in the Kaleva Games, it will be a really fun challenge, Demnati laughs.
Neziri is his first international class coach.
– At first I thought that the athlete has so much knowledge and experience that it is a challenge. But then I noticed that experience is more useful when compared to young athletes. I don’t need to teach what the sport requires from the head coach, says Demnati.
Nezir’s coaching group is a kind of triangle. Coaching matters, technique and policies are discussed together and separately with the power of three heads. Rantala also works as a handyman who takes care of many practical matters.
– My job description is quite broad and I have also been following Nooralota’s fence technology and mobility for years, Rantala describes.
He adds that the current coaching pattern would not work without Demnat.
– The main thing is always that the athlete is in the center all the time, says Rantala.
Healthy again
The coach changes started when Neziri left in 2017 Jussi Ihamäki from coaching. Since then, he has had four different coaches.
– The most important lesson is to know what works and what doesn’t. Training for hurdles follows the same formula, whether it’s Austria or Finland, the 31-year-old master of economics states.
It is clear that a sprinter has to think about the relationship between exercise and rest as he gets older.
– In our sport, more is not always better, Neziri says.
The last years in Nezir’s life have been full of phases.
– This has not gone exactly as I would have liked. There has been an overload condition and other things.
In the 2021 indoor season, Neziri still ran the then 60-meter hurdles SE of 7.91 and was fourth in the European Indoor Championships, only a sad hundredth of a medal away. That summer, Neziri was also selected for the Tokyo Olympic team, but he had to miss out due to a stress fracture in his back and a torn hamstring.
In the following season, the problem was a heel that had to be cut. Last summer also ended somewhat unfinished, and Neziri was not seen in the Sweden match.
But now Neziri has remained healthy.
– You immediately feel like knocking on wood, but right now it’s a pretty good situation. There is nothing new like that and I have been able to do all the workouts except for one.
At one point, Neziri thought about ending his career until 2024.
– At the point when I said that, I had thought that my results would be completely different at the moment, and I wouldn’t have had a cycle of injuries in the background. It’s not time to stop yet, the goal is to reach a new level.
The initiator of the fence boom
Nooralotta Neziri can be considered a woman who pioneered the currently prevailing rapid fencing boom in Finland.
– Yes, I dare to say that it has certainly played a role. Before, even going under 13 seconds was considered impossible.
Neziri was the first Finn to break the 13-second mark in the 100-meter hurdles. It happened in 2014 in Kuopio and the time was 12.98.
– I think that once it was broken, many others started to believe in it.
Now 13 seconds have been broken by four Finns. Neziri’s 100-meter hurdles Finnish record of 12.81 was broken first Annimari Korte running in 2019 for a time of 12.72. Last summer Reetta Hurske ran valid SE 12.70.
Also Lotta Harala broke 13 seconds last summer and more runners are expected.
– After all, it’s a terribly juicy situation when we think about next summer and there are four of us women under 13 seconds.
Neziri firmly believes that he can still improve his record.
– Petteri Jouste told me once that it is biologically proven that a sprinter can develop until the age of 35.
Investment in government
Neziri says that in his training, he has focused on running and jumping and has reduced his punt training.
– We have discussed a lot about whether I dare to leave out strength training. That was one of Samir’s opinions.
The runner says that he was surprised by the development of strength levels. The speed is also okay.
In the opening of the season, Neziri was only one hundredth short of his official 60 meter record.
– I feel that without a good basic speed it is also difficult to run fast hurdles hard.
Coach Demnati believes in good governance.
– If not quite a record run, at least very close, Demnati estimates.
In the first fence starts, the time was 8.12. It is the same as the former SE of the trip.
The next fencing competition is today in Tampere.
– Now I have to get the first fence gap to collapse. I believe that it will take a lot of time on Tuesday.
The result limit for the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow in March is 8.02. There is only a tenth of a way to go.
Neziri plans to bet on the board in order to get ranking points for the summer honors.
– I’m going to tour Europe for high-level competitions, and I hope to get ranking points there. Above all, I think I will regain my confidence.
After the hall season, it’s time for the important spring camp.
– We will be in Tenerife at least in April and possibly in March as well.
The EC outdoor track competitions will be held in Rome already in June.
Athletics’ Tampere indoor competition in Areena at 17:55 and on TV2 from 19:15.