The Finnish Olympic Committee’s Top Sports Unit has published the summer sports enhancement support decisions for 2024.
Sakari Lund,
Manu Myllyaho
The Finnish Olympic Committee’s Elite Sports Unit has published the summer sports enhancement support decisions for the year 2024. In total, 4,223,000 euros of elite sports enhancement support was distributed to summer sports, and including support for expert activities, the sum increases to more than five million euros.
The Olympics will be held in Paris from July 26 to November 11. August and the Paralympics from August 28 to September 8. This time, the focus of support is on top athletes.
– We have five athletes in the summer Olympic sports who have established themselves at the top of the world, Leena Paavolainen said.
According to the Olympic Committee, these five athletes are shooters Eetu Kallioinena pole vaulter Wilma Murtojudoka Martti Puumalainen and sailors Sinem Kurtbay and Central axis.
– In addition, we have five to ten athletes who are within striking distance of medal level and another twenty athletes who have shown that they can reach the top or the immediate feeling of it on their best day, Paavolainen explains.
– When we add potential Paralympic winners to that, we have a group whose operating and training conditions we wanted to optimally secure for 2024.
Meeting the international level of requirements requires customized solutions
– As an example, let’s mention the support that enables a coach Jarno Koivunen to fully focus on coaching Wilma Murro until Paris. The differences at the top of the world arise in every sport from such small things that we cannot afford to give an equalization in any matter that we can influence, says Paavolainen, who will be the manager of the Olympic team in Paris next summer.
Sailing and para-athletics will continue in the top sports support program. The investment sports support program has 20 sports, four of which are Paralympic sports.
In the enhancement support decisions published on Tuesday, individual support was allocated to 85 athletes in individual sports and direct team support to seven teams.