Oliver Helander had to throw Kuortane in the GP race.
Paavo Forsberg,
Petra Manner
18:57 • Updated 7:45 PM
Oliver Helander missed Saturday’s spear race. Helander had a discussion about participating in the competition with his coach Tero Pitkämäki with after the initial warm-up.
According to Pitkämäki, Helander’s shoulder has not yet fully recovered from Paavo Nurmi’s competitions. Helander snatched a wild 89.83 in Tuesday’s race.
– There is more to lose today than to win. The weather is pretty cold. Today, the main goal is to stay healthy. And it’s happening now, Pitkämäki told Sport.
According to Helander, the solution was quite difficult. However, more important races are just coming.
– The shoulder is fine, there’s nothing new here. I think it will recover after this race. Subsequent races depend on the shoulder, the terms go towards the World Cup, Helander himself said.
Helander has been bothering his shoulder for years. It has demanded cortisone spikes to relieve pain this spring as well. Helander believes he can throw races without cortisone spikes.
According to Pitkämäki, it was purely an athlete’s own decision.
– I said think about the main goal of the season and make decisions. Let’s see what the situation is with regard to Oulu and Stockholm.
An athletics ranking competition will be competed in Oulu in a week. The Stockholm Diamond League is on its turn on June 30th.
Pitkämäki expects a high-quality spear race despite Helander’s absence and rain. Included are e.g. Anderson Peters, Neeraj Chopra and Keshorn Walcott. Finns are involved Toni Keränen.
– The wind conditions are good. Javelin throwing doesn’t hurt terribly, even when the surface is wet.