Reetta Hurskee and Lotta Harala’s dreams of the 100-meter hurdles semifinals now rest on Thursday’s collector’s race.
Paris Olympics on channels 26.7.–11.8. Go to the competition website here. You can find the entire program of the games here.
Finnish 100 meter rowing women Reetta Hurske and Lotta Harala have to pick up speed through Thursday’s collection batches. Both were far from their best times of the season in the heats in Paris.
Hurske ran sixth in his heat with a time of 12.96 and Harala fifth in his heat with a time of 12.97.
– It was a bit bumpy. The time was miserable, but the net and legs felt good, so there’s nothing to do but a new attempt tomorrow, Hurske summed up.
Harala also had similar thoughts.
– I started a bit upright, and I didn’t attack the first fence in the best way. I felt confident and my body felt good, so it’s all about the game tomorrow.
Hurske in particular really got used to the Paris Olympics on the track, when the home crowd’s favorite, France’s Cyrena Samba-Mayela. The crowd of more than 70,000 people had to be entertained before the starting gun went off.
– I was a little surprised, what the heck is this, when we actually started looking for encouragement. Then it got quiet. I have never experienced anything like that before, Hurske said.
In the time comparison, he would have reached the semi-finals with a time of 12.85. Earlier in the summer, Harala ran SE time 12.65 and Hurske his own record 12.68. There are still six places available for the semi-finals in Thursday’s collection rounds.
– Two or three tenths could be taken from today’s time, Harala said decisively.
That would be enough for the semi-finals. Harala is 20th and Hurske 23rd in the Olympic statistics. Based on the statistics, both should survive the collection batches at the latest. 13.04 was needed for the 2016 and 2021 semifinals, and the fastest time required for the semifinals was 12.84 at the 2008 Olympics, but then there were only two semifinals, now there are three.
Even the finals would be a possibility, based on statistical forecasts, if the Finns’ times fall closer to the season’s best. In Tokyo 2021, 12.67 was enough for the final, and in Rio 2016, 12.82.