In the Stockholm Diamond League, Finnish runners were again hit hard when both Eveliina Määttänen and Viivi Lehikoinen broke their records. In the pole vault, Sweden’s Armand Duplantis made a new outdoor track ME.
Aino Paloniemi,
STT Sports
The Diamond League for Athletics in Stockholm saw a tough competition on Thursday. Of the Finns, especially runners Eveliina Määttänen and Viivi Lehikoinen continued their tough periods in the form of new records.
In the national round of the 800-meter race in the Diamond League, Eveliina Määttänen ran a new record of 2.01.14. Määttänen, who took the winning victory, rose to third place in Finland’s all-time statistics Sara Kuiviston and Wind Merikoski for hocks.
Määttänen, 26, improved his 800-meter record by four tenths and at the same time the domestic top result of the season for the fifth time this season. In the final race, the Finn defeated Poland Adrianna Czaplan.
– The final straight came pretty much side by side. About 40 meters before the goal, my own pace started to clot, but I still managed to keep the run going, Määttänen said in a statement from the Finnish Sports Federation.
Former fencer runner Määttänen will most likely be selected on Friday through the rankings for the Eugene World Championships, which will start in just over two weeks.
Finland Viivi Lehikoinen also ran a new record of 54.80 in the women’s 400m hurdles. Lehikoinen improved his record earlier this summer by 0.16 seconds.
Lehikoinen, 22, finished sixth in his Diamond League debut competition. The Netherlands took the overwhelming victory in the race Femke Bolwho set a race record of 52.27.
Lehikoinen is 0.18 seconds away with his new record Tuija Helander Finland’s record in 1987.
In the men’s 4×100 meter message, the Finnish quartet Eino Vuori, Samuli Samuelsson, Oskari Lehtonen and Samuel Purola was third at 39.31.
Tuomas Lehtonen was the sixth in the men’s 400m national championship with a time of 51.72. Lehtonen was just over half a second behind the Finnish top result of the season at the Paavo Nurmi competition in Turku, 51.19.
The Finnish team in the women’s 4×100 meter post Johanna Kylmänen, Aino Pulkkinen, Anniina Kortetmaa and Anna Pursiainen reached second with a strong time. The result of 43.90 run by the quartet is the best Finnish time in 15 years. Switzerland took the women’s message victory with a time of 42.13.
Peters is the king of the spear race
Oliver Helander placed fifth in the Stockholm Diamond League men’s spear race with a score of 85.46. Helander threw his results in the first round, stepping over his next two throws and skipping the rest of his attempt.
Stockholm’s result is the fifth best result in Helander’s career.
– The first one was okay. No button throws. On the second and third throws, I tried too hard and the support was pretty horrible. I missed the next two throws for sure. I didn’t want any injuries before the World Cup, Helander said in a statement.
– I will continue with a good feeling to prepare for the World Cup.
Grenadan Anderson Peters won a tough race with his 90.31m streak. Peters returned to compete after leaving the race in Orimattila due to his back problems.
The Olympic champion took second place in the spear race Neeraj Chopra. Chopra reached his new record in Stockholm for the very first time when the Indian threw a score of 89.94.
At the height of women Ella Junnila was seventh over 185. Junnila dropped three times from a height of 193. Australia jumped to victory in the height race Eleanor Patterson 196 with results.
A new record for the outdoor tracks sealed the evening
Swedish Armand Duplantis finished the Stockholm Diamond League night pole vault with a new top result in the world of outdoor tracks. Duplantis surpassed a record high of 616 with its second attempt.
Duplantis improved their best track performance by a cent.
On indoor tracks, the Duplantis world record is 620. The Swedish star set the record at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade in March.