Boxer Pihla Kaivo-oja is shaking in the ring, but it’s quiet outside. Friday is Finland’s real super day. Urheilu lists the talking points of the Paris Olympics.
Paris Olympics on channels 26.7.–11.8. Go to the competition website here. You can find the entire program of the games here.
Who squealed?
Boxer Pihla Kaivo-oja creates quite a sensation. Competing in his first Olympics, the 21-year-old Finnish promise has won both his matches in the 50-kilogram category.
On Thursday, he defeated the sixth ranked USA Jennifer Lozano 5–0. He will face Georgia in his quarter-final on Saturday Buse Naz Cakiroglu. With a win, the medal position is released.
So Kaivo-oja has excelled in the ring, but after the matches his actions have amazed. Already after the opening match, there was talk when the Finnish boxer did not appear in front of the media. Coach Maarit Teuronen did the talking.
On Thursday, the same pattern was repeated.
Kaivo-oja’s father Juha Kaivo-oja confirmed on Wednesday Ilta-Sanom, that he considers the fuss in question unnecessary. Teuronen and Kaivo-oja’s long-term goal is the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
Commenting on boxing on Urheilu’s Olympiaradio Julius Sorjonen can see that they are now trying to take the spotlight away from Kaivo-oja.
– At the moment, Pihla is shackling the fans with his own match performance. It is inevitable that at some point Pihla will have to step forward.
– He has jumped right in line with the world’s brightest leader. Now we are looking for Kaivo-oja to get a break from work and for him to learn to be the world’s top athlete. Probably the next step is that he is good with the media, Sorjonen spoke on Olympiaradio.
What speaks?
Paris has been buzzing all week with special boxing cases. Algerian Imane Khelif and Taiwan Lin Yu-ting were disqualified from the World Cup because there was ambiguity in their gender test. They were deemed ineligible for the women’s leagues.
The World Championships were organized by the International Boxing Association IBA, in the Olympic Games the IOC. Both boxers qualified for the Olympics in Paris. The controversial situation has been seen as the result of a rift between the IBA and the IOC.
According to the IOC, both boxers meet all the rules and regulations. Late Thursday, it published a statement on its website slamming the IBA. According to the IOC, Khelifi and Lin Yu-ting are victims of an arbitrary decision and that they were disqualified from the World Cup without due process.
More: The gender of the two Olympic female boxers is in doubt – an extraordinary statement from the IOC
Frustration?
The long-awaited athletics competitions in Paris start properly today, when the Stade France hall has anything to do. The race host currently lacks bright athletics stars, and Thursday’s news did not make it any easier.
Decathlon ME man Kevin Mayer unable to fight due to injuries. The two-time world champion of the sport has suffered from a lot of different injuries, because of which the championship matches have sometimes been interrupted.
Mayer took his ME score (9,126) almost six years ago in France. Even if Mayer would not have been among the biggest names in the Olympic 10-match event, he is still France’s absolute favorite in athletics.
In athletics, France’s medal hopes now rest Gabrice Tualin (800 m), Cyrena Samba-Maeylan (100 m aj) and ex-teen star Sasha Zhoyan (110 m aj) on the shoulders.
What next?
The most interesting days for Finns start now. Today, the skeet shooter is in action Eetu Kallioinen and a judoka competing in the heavyweight division Martti Puumalainenwho both have medal potential.
In judo classes, all competitions, including medal matches, are decided during the same day. Finland has never won an Olympic medal in judo.
There will be a qualifying competition in skeet on Saturday. The 26-year-old Kallioinen stunned three years ago in Tokyo with his fourth place. Puumalainen, who won the European Championship gold last year, is not off to a good start, as he has had health problems in the summer.
In golf, a promising start to the Olympic tournament Sami Välimäki tries to continue his good form in the 2nd round. Välimäki is tied for sixth place with a result of -4. Tapio Pulkanen is ranked 21st.
In the high jump Ella Junnila wants a place in the finals. At the beginning of the summer, he was fifth in the European Championships and made his record 197 in PNG, but since the Kaleva Games it has been really sticky.
Among the Finnish track and field athletes, Junnila, who ran a thrilling fifth place in the 5,000 meters at the European Championships, had better finals than her own Nathalie Blomqvist.
There are two heats, from each of which eight go directly to the continuation without time comparison. The 23-year-old Finn is fighting for the last final places in his division.
A Finnish runner has never been seen in the women’s 5,000-meter Olympic final.