Monika Mikkola feels that she was left at her first Olympics alone and without the help of Finnish maintenance.
Joel Sippola,
Riikka Smolander-Slotte
The first Olympian of his career became a sailor Monika to Mikkola a bad experience.
– There’s not much to say, Mikkola sums up exhaustively.
Mikkola, who sailed in the ILCA6 class, was 16th in Paris and was left out of the medal starts of the top ten sailors.
Mikkola stings hard text about her Olympic debut. According to him, Finnish maintenance did not work in Olympic waters.
– A very negative experience. There has been a lot of everything in the background. I have been without a coach most of the time and without any support in the water, says Mikkola.
– Having no food or water has affected recovery a lot. It’s been mentally tough.
How much do things like that affect the performance itself?
– A lot.
Mikkola says that mental support and refueling are both really important elements when looking for a successful performance.
– The coach is really important. When you’re alone, you’re pretty alone. It’s absolutely nothing.
Coach in corona
The reason behind Mikkola’s problems was, among other things, the fact that the organizers moved the men’s and women’s ILCA classes to the same track area. There could only be one maintenance boat per country.
In the men’s class, where Kaarle Tapper competition, Finland and Norway shared a maintenance boat.
Mikkola’s coach Dennis Paaske got sick with the corona virus and couldn’t get on the same boat as the others. Since Mikkola had stopped cooperating with Norway earlier this year, he did not have the same opportunity as Tapper.
– The team management has tried to explain that there was an agreement that was made with another country. Even though in the end I was the only sailor on the track area, I still couldn’t get a boat or a coach there, Mikkola tells his view of the situation.
Cooperation with Norway
Finland’s team leader Toni Roponen says that Finland has had a three-year cooperation agreement with the Norwegian national sailing team.
– Monika wanted to leave it three months ago and change coaches. We already made it clear to him then that there could be problems, Roponen states, referring to the events of the Olympic Games.
However, the team manager says that Mikkola has been offered help during the games.
– Efforts have been made to organize all the help. Food and drink.
– This is a very sad situation. But when Monika wanted to do this. He knew this could be challenging.
Roponen adds that the problem would not have arisen if the ILCA classes had sailed at a different time.
No money to continue
Mikkola, who turned 28 in July, does not see his future as a sailor in a very positive light.
– I don’t have any money to continue. Not terribly doable at the moment.
For Mikkola, the Paris Olympics was a goal for a long time.
– Of course I’m disappointed. A big dream that I have been preparing for all my life. Then nothing really goes right, Mikkola vented his disappointment.
Mikkola adds that he himself could have done things better.
– Of course, you can always improve what you do. Sailing is a very difficult sport. There are many things that can be influenced, but also many things that I cannot control.
– The athlete can be disappointed, but he also has to bear his own responsibility. It is unfortunate that the athlete feels this way, but he himself has been influencing this, that the coaching relationship changes, Roponen states.