Kristiina Mäkelä’s coach from Tuomas Sall and Wilma Murro’s coach from Jarno Koivu are united not only by the prestigious medal of the coaches but also by a small and tiny Finnish club.
Before the weekend, the balance of the Finnish team from the multi-sport EC competitions in Munich is three medals: two gold and a silver. The medals have come from athletics.
At the club level, Raitanen is active in Helsinki’s Kisa-Veikoi, while Mäkelä is in Orimattila’s Jymy. On Wednesday, the European pole vault gold winner Wilma Murto represents Salon Vilpa.
Three athletes, three different backgrounds. But two of their coaches have a common denominator.
Break a pilot Jarno Koivunen and Mäkelää Tuomas Sallinen. Both coaches are former athletes, who are united by the municipality of more than 2,000 inhabitants located on the side of Turku.
Koski Tl, more precisely expressed as Koski of Turku County, is a municipality located in Varsinais-Finland, whose local pride is the Sports Club Kosken Kaiku. According to the club’s website, it has activities in frisbee golf, skiing, volleyball, table tennis and athletics.
The latter two sports have been represented at the European Championship week in Munich, and Kosken Kaiku has been seen in both either in the background or on the stage itself. Table tennis promise Alex Naumi played in the colors of the club, while in the moukarihäki there was a player from the municipality Henri Liipola. Koivunen and Sallinen have represented in the stands and held together outside the venue as well.
– We have been roommates for a few years in prestigious competitions, and during that time our sports group has won quite a few medals. Koski’s men are a bit like magic, says Koivunen at the Olympic Stadium in Munich.
– Jarno has been around Koski a lot. It has also found a lady there, Sallinen acknowledges.
Koivunen celebrated his protégé’s medal on Wednesday, his roommate’s turn came on Friday. The duo’s balance in recent years is convincing. In March 2021, I will allow a high jumper to be trained Ella Junnila won bronze in the European European Championships in Poland, where the tall man also succeeded worthy of bronze Kristian Pulli. Sallinen was responsible for Pulli’s coaching during the corona period.
– The World Championships didn’t go badly either, Sallinen says and refers to the Oregon Games held in July, where Murto was sixth and Mäkelä ninth.
In addition, Murto was Fifth and Mäkelä 11th at the Tokyo Olympics last year.
– All final places are hard to achieve. It’s already hard work to get to the Games, let alone figure out the qualification, says Sallinen.
Behind a long coaching history
To the question of whether Murro’s EC gold on Wednesday had an effect on the two-medal Friday night, neither of them gives a direct answer.
– At least it didn’t hurt, Koivunen, 47, says.
– The Finnish team is good at handling all kinds of situations. Even if things go badly, the spirit is good, says Sallinen, who turns 64 next Thursday.
Sallinen is a long-time coach who, before moving to overalls, in the 1980s jumped a height of 216 at his best and triple jumped 16.26.
Arvokisakaste came as a jumping coach at the 1994 European Championships in Helsinki, where Heikki Herva was 12th in the triple jump Denis Kapustin winning in the final. Before Mäkelä, also another top jumper at the value competition level Johan Meriluoto trusted Sallinen’s coaching skills.
On Friday, Sallinen and Mäkelä received an award for their collaboration that started in 2018. The record improvement of 16 cents seen in the European Championship final in Munich brought Mäkelä a result of 14.64, with which he got not only silver but also a Finnish record.
The ingredients for a stronger result were also there, but the long jump in the third round was overstepped.
– The record was not quite a leap. Kristiina still has room to improve. The record seen today has been in place for two months. I’ve been waiting in every race for it to come. Achieving such a result requires in this kind of sport that everything clicks into place. Both technically, attitudinally and in terms of conditions. A little luck is also needed, says Sallinen.
The defector gold was taken by Ukraine Marina Beh-Romanshuk, who, like Mäkelä, reached his record in the final. Beh-Romantshuk broke the ghost limit of the sport in the fifth round by jumping the result 15.04.
– That 15-meter was quite hard and already hit quite a mental barrier, Sallinen admits.
Through learning
In Munich, a new version of Sallinen’s shield was seen. Contrary to what is customary, Mäkelä was able to achieve a tougher result in the finals than in the qualifiers.
Before the European Championships in Munich, Mäkelä had passed five of the seven previous qualifying rounds, but had a lower result in the four previous finals than in the qualifying round.
According to Sallinen, the trend did not cause additional measures.
– We have approached the issue mainly through training. The necessary training has been toughened, and development has already come earlier. In recent games, the qualifiers have not been taken as hard as before.
– The athlete’s experience is key. Someone learns to compete, someone already knows it and someone never learns. You never know who belongs to which category. I have always seen a potential Success in Kristiina and trusted that the top day in the prestigious competitions will come. And we saw that today, Sallinen says.
Murto, coached by Koivunen, has already talked about his desire to cross the bar from a height of five meters since his breakthrough year in 2016. But in Mäkelä’s case, can we talk about breaking the 15-meter phantom line?
– We can talk. Without a doubt, Sallinen assures.
– We have a race to see which athlete reaches the finish line first, Koivunen acknowledges humorously.
The European Championship week in Munich can be seen on channels from August 11 to August 21. You can find live broadcasts, highlights, the competition schedule, interesting news and topics on ‘s competition page.