Teijo Kööpikkä participated for the first time in the para-sport World Championships in Paris and achieved bronze in the men’s shot put with a Finnish record.
Returned as a competitive athlete Teijo Köpikkä participated in Paris for the first time in the World Championships in para sports and won bronze in the men’s shot put in the 57th category for wheelchair athletes.
Kööpikä’s result of 14.80 is a new class 57 Finnish record.
– There wasn’t a cent left in the warehouse, and there won’t be any more for this summer. Twelve cents off the European record and twelve cents off the old competition record. A really tough competition, commented the recent bronze medalist to Urheilu.
The overwhelming winner was Iranian Yasin Khosravi, which improved the world record for this category by as much as Four times. Khosrav’s longest push was 16.01.
The second one was from Brazil Thiago Paulino, who pushed 15.09. With his fifth push, Kööpikka passed India Soman Rana narrowly with a difference of four centimeters and thus rose to third place.
– According to expectations, this (final) went. Those two dudes went ahead, as they should have, the Finnish tough man stated.
Kööpikka was the first to push his own balls. After that, you had to watch from the side how the others pushed.
– It was terrible to worry about what others were doing. If I had been a little later in the queue, I wouldn’t have even followed the performance of others, and I wouldn’t have had to worry so much.
Teijo Kööpikä’s story has all the ingredients of a hero.
He won a bronze medal in the under-20 European Championships 24 years ago. After that came a serious injury. This year, Kööpikkä made a return to the ball ring after a 16-year break, and as a first-timer at the World Championships, he won the bronze medal at the age of 42.
– I feel good now. 24 years ago a prize medal and immediately after, Kööpikkä grinned widely.
At the same time, Kööpikkä got Finland a place in next year’s Paralympics in Paris.
– Now let’s get to work and dig somewhere a little more. Until now, I have pushed like an uninjured shot putter. I have to wonder if there are still extra cents in some technical matters so that I could still bully Iran’s son.
Sari Sirkki was interviewed by Teijo Kööpikka.