Finland has already won seven medals at the under-23 European Athletics Championships in Espoo. Urheilu’s expert Jaakko Ojaniemi gives Silja Kosose and Saga Vannine a fascinating view of the World Cup.
ESPOO
A night of four medals and a day of five medals. A shower of medals like Friday’s at the Espoo Youth European Championships is an exceptional treat for Finns on the athletics front. Be that as it may, it’s only about the youth games.
Saga Vanninen (7-match) gold. Silja Kosonen (moukari) gold. Eemil Helander (5,000 m) of silver. Veera Mattila (800 m) of silver. Jessica Kähärä (3-jump) bronze.
The super day of the Finnish athletes got an expert from Urheilu Jaakko Ojaniemi to spin his head several times during the competition events.
– I don’t remember this kind of shelling. Is this exceptional, Ojaniemi amazed again on the top night of the Games.
Vanninen and Kosonen, who went to their home races as winning favourites, kept their cool as usual.
– I thought Kähärä was a likely medalist. Helander was a little surprise. Veera Mattila’s medal was the biggest surprise. Both of them were still quite clear runners-up, Ojaniemi says.
New winner types
Vanninen and Kosonen are real winning types at the junior competition level. Both have EC and WC gold for under-20s and the European Championship for under-23s. Vanni has rarely won junior world championships in pairs.
Both are very tough competitors.
– Kosonen immediately put a bone in his throat with the first (73.71). Vannine had challenges, but he was always able to rise. It is a really important feature for a competitor.
Both Kosonen and Vanninen are already capable of being in the top eight at the global level. In last summer’s World Championships, Kosonen made a great debut, finishing seventh.
– Let’s say that at the World Championships they can both reach the top six. Silja is closer to a medal than Saga, Ojaniemi refers to the world championships held in Budapest in August.
More medals
Ojaniemi has a silver medal from 2001 in 10 matches of the under-23 European Championship. Finland won seven medals in those games.
With two race days still left, there are just as many value race tiles in the pile from the Espoo Games. Walker Jerry Jokinen and a shot putter Emilia Fabric achieved bronze on the two opening days.
In the under-23 European Championships, Finland’s single-race medal record is from the 1997 Turku Games. Finnish sportsmen won three championships and nine medals from the event organized for the first time at that time.
There are still several potential medal candidates left. Women’s javelin Anni-Linnea Alanen you can even fight for the brightest medal.
– I bet there will be two medals in the men’s javelin. Needless to say, ten medals is my estimate.
– This is tougher than in Turku 1997. That was when these were organized for the first time. It was not held in very high esteem. Compared to that, this is a tougher achievement, Ojaniemi sees.