Middle-distance runner Sara Lappalainen is returning from an almost year-long competitive break. In Lahti, he defends the Finnish championship in both 1,500 meters and 800 meters.
Emma Hyuppa,
Petra Manner
The Kaleva Games in Lahti 27.–30.7. Urheilu follows the events in this article.
Finnish record holder in 800 meters and 1,500 meters Sara Lappalainen will return on Friday evening from an almost year-long competition break at the Kaleva Games in Lahti. Lappalainen (formerly Kuivisto) defends the Finnish championship in 1,500 meters at 20:28.
Lappalainen was supposed to open his season in June at the Paavo Nurmi Games, but the opening of the season was delayed due to health problems. Ari Suhonen at the time, the Porvoo runner he coached did not want to reveal in more detail what kind of problems were involved.
– My health has been really bad. I can’t list here now, but the list is long. I’ve had really bad problems with my stomach. That is the biggest problem at the moment, Lappalainen said on Friday in Lahti.
Lappalainen last competed last September in the match against Sweden.
– I would have wished for a slightly different summer for myself. This has been like this, how to say it nicely, like hell. I’ve been able to train just fine, but it’s been erratic. If it’s been a bad day or I’ve been terribly unwell, it’s been hard to train. If it’s hard to cope with everyday life, you can’t do two running exercises a day, says Lappalainen.
Lappalainen’s hall season was messed up by an equipment failure in the alpine hut. He was accidentally at an altitude of 3,000 meters instead of 2,000 meters, which is why his body did not recover to normal. Last summer was disturbed by Achilles tendon problems. The cycle of problems started already in the spring of 2022, when Lappalainen suffered from feeling weak and stomach pain for a long time. At that time, an intestinal parasite called Dientamoeba fragilis turned out to be the cause of the problems.
Two years ago, Lappalainen was in the shape of his life at the Tokyo Olympics. He ran to the semi-finals in both of his trips and improved Finnish records in each of his starts.
Continuous difficulties during the past year and a half have eaten away at Lappalainen’s motivation.
– It has been extremely difficult. When the mess just goes on and on, at some point the measure of a person gets full, and they just can’t take it anymore. I’ve tried to cheer myself up when the causes have been found and I’ve received the right treatment. I still want to try and not give up.
Lappalainen has won tons of championship gold in five Kaleva Games. He has also registered for the 800 meters in Lahti, which he has won no less than seven times in a row.
Lappalainen says that skipping the entire season has crossed his mind many times. He says that he made the final decision about participating in the Kaleva Games yesterday.
As the early favorite, the SE woman will not go on either trip, and she herself does not have high expectations for the opening starts of the season. Lahti Ahkeran Kristina Mäki has been running hard with ton vitos, as has Espoo’s Tapioen as well Eveliina Määttänen at 800 meters.
– It’s a bit exciting, but I feel calm and good. Of course, I would have hoped that I would have been able to start running before the WC. Fitness is a mystery, but I’m happy to be able to compete. There are no bigger goals for the rest of the season, says Lappalainen.
The Kaleva Games in Lahti 27.–30.7. Urheilu follows the events in this article. On Friday, the broadcast on Puhee starts at 5 p.m., on TV2 and Areena at 6 p.m.
The matter was corrected on 28.7. at 8:44 p.m.: In the caption of the main picture, the wrong surname Kuivisto has been corrected to Lappish.