Eveliina Määttänen ran her 800 meter record of 1:59.96 at the Paavo Nurme Games and became the second Finnish woman in history to break two minutes.
TURKU. Eveliina Määttanen27, a huge record improvement and under two minutes in the 800 meters were undoubtedly the most exciting Finnish moments of Paavo Nurme’s evening at the Games.
The 1:59.96 clocked by Määttänen, who represents Espoo Tapioi, is the second fastest time ever run by a Finnish woman. Sara Lappalainen (b. Kuivisto) The Finnish record is more than half a second harder.
Tuuli Merikoski 2.00.59, which has remained the Finnish record for 30 years, has now been broken by two Finnish women in two years.
Even before the Turku race, Määttänen’s record was 2:01.14.
– A really wonderful performance, because very few Finns have been under two minutes. It’s an important stage, although I’ve tried as little as possible to think about such phantom borders, so that they don’t become such. I have succeeded quite well, says Määttänen.
Slovenian tactics
Määttänen’s coach spouse Jan Petrac everything went somewhat according to plan. It is a rare treat in middle-distance and especially 800-meter running.
Petrac, originally from Slovenia, used his networks to prepare Määttänen’s exact plan for two laps of the track. Petrac had agreed with Slovenia by Anita Horvat with the coach, that Horvat would go hard and Määttänen would try to hang in there as best he could.
– We wanted a hard start and a good place in the group. The first hundred meters was really hard. Both Eveliina and Anita had a clear goal for the competition and both achieved theirs, says Petrac.
Horvat also improved his record by a couple of tenths and won with a time of 1:58.73. Määttänen was fifth in the race.
Was there something typical for Slovenian middle distance running in the tactics?
Petrac laughs and shrugs. Now, what is Slovenian and what is the 800-meter speed division that has been found to work all over the world.
– I do not know. It’s hard to say, but I always want to see Eveliina run bravely, even if it doesn’t carry to the end. Now it has borne, because we have succeeded in developing sustainability. I believe that by improving it in the future, he can still improve a lot.
– We work a lot. If you try to get a hard time by starting hard, you can be proud of yourself, no matter what happens. When you give your all, you don’t need to worry.
Two Finnish tops in women’s 800 meters
Sara Lappalainen has dominated the 800 and 1,500 meter runs in Finland in recent years and holds the Finnish records for both distances. This season, the Porvoo native, who is concentrating on the ton vitos, missed the Paavo Nurmi Games due to health problems.
According to Petrac, the competition between Lappalainen and Määttänen is a good thing.
– Sara gives motivation. I have always admired what he and the coach Ari (Suhonen) have achieved because they have had a great journey and great results. I’m sad that he can’t compete now.
Jan Petrac believes that Määttänen can still beat Lappalainen’s SE time of 1:59.41.
– We are aiming for the second fitness peak of the summer at the World Championships in Budapest in August. I hope that the condition is even a little better than this. Everything was right today, perfect environment and great conditions.
A great Finnish performance was also seen in the men’s 800 meters, when Joonas Rinne ran his record 1:45.81 and became sixth in the all-time record.