Eveliina Määttänen will run in the women’s 800 meter preliminaries at the World Athletics Championships on Friday at 3:10. shows the World Cup live.
Even last fall Eveliina Määttänen would never have believed that this summer he would be playing in the World Championships in Oregon.
At that time, Määttänen’s 800-meter record on outdoor tracks had been run 11 years ago in 2.12.21. Now it’s 2.01.14, which means the improvement has been a whopping 11 seconds and the raps are on.
– It is a surprise. The development has been extremely fast. But certainly the fact that there is a training background for a long time enables rapid development, reflects Määttänen.
The fact that the 26-year-old Määttänen was still quite young when he ran his previous record has also contributed to the huge 800-meter record improvement. After that, the 400-meter hurdles was selected as his main sport, which partly explains the longevity of the previous record.
For this season, 800 meters changed to the main event. The change of species has been amazingly successful.
Määttänen also talks about how lucky he is to have a Slovenian coach-spouse Jan Petrac the training program he prepared has been perfect for him.
Many things have fallen into place when Määttänen, in addition to his day job, has grown into a World Championship-level athlete.
– I am really happy about this surprise, says Määttänen at the Kerava sports field, where he got his first contact with athletics.
From figure skating to tartan
Eveliina Määttänen started playing sports at a young age. His first main sport was figure skating.
He started figure skating at the age of seven and practiced it until he was about 12 years old. Other sports were orienteering and gymnastics. I started athletics when I was 11–12 years old.
The multi-talented Määttäsen did not make it Kiira Korpea, but he became a runner. The first recorded track and field results can be found on Tilastopaja’s website from 2008, when he turned 13 in the fall.
Määttänen ran on a wide scale when he was young, from sprinting to cross-country running. It has also helped him in changing the main route.
– We trained really versatile since I started athletics. We also did jumping events and hurdles, says Määttänen, whose first coach he was Jorma Liukka.
Määttänen fell in love with hurdles when he was young, and 400-meter hurdles became his main sport. Määttänen represented Finland in three junior competitions, but never made it to the finals in his main sport.
Instead, in 2019, he ran in the 400-meter hurdles final of the Kaleva Games.
Määttänen came almost flying down the final straight on Lappeenranta’s blue Kimpinen. Määttänen, who ran fifth on the course, caught meter by meter the rower star who ran in the lead Delay from Lehikoi and was able to pass him right in chalk lines. He won the Finnish championship with his best time of the season 58.59. Lehikoinen lost by 8 hundredths.
– It was a tight race. Viivi had a slightly weaker season then, Määttänen remembers.
In any case, defeating Finland’s number one harpist showed that Määttäsen also has the potential for feats.
Then difficulties struck. The 2020 and 2021 seasons were spent wrestling with a hamstring injury.
Change of species from fences to smooth
Määttänen tried to return to hurdles last summer, but his hamstring continued to hurt. Määttänen got the feeling that he didn’t dare to run fences.
However, he had a strong desire to compete at the international level. Since his leg couldn’t handle hurdles, he started thinking about changing the distance to a smooth one.
At home, Määttänen discussed with her husband Jan Petrac whether she should still try the 800 meters. Määttänen’s mother also campaigned for the cause.
– Mother knows her children’s affairs, and mother said to run away, laughs Määttänen.
Training for 800 meters started last October. Määttänen’s Slovenian husband Petrac, who is himself a former middle distance junior star, started making training programs. He has run in the final of the Junior World Championships.
The initial meters of Määttänen’s 800-meter training were challenging. The sprinter’s condition had deteriorated because he hadn’t been able to train properly for a few years. Määttäni didn’t feel good about long runs, but longer strokes with recovery and a slightly faster pace seemed to work.
– We started very carefully and increased the number of kilometers little by little, Petrac says.
Atypical endurance training
400-meter hurdles and 800-meter hurdles are two completely different sports. 400 meters still belongs to sprints, while 800 meters is already endurance running.
The hurdles in the track circuit are run on your own track with a certain rhythm, while in the 800 meter race you run in a group after the first hundred meters, where the rhythm can change suddenly and there is often jostling in traffic on the track.
– There is still practice, Määttänen reflects.
Sprinters usually do not run high mileage. Their training largely consists of short runs, intervals and strength training. Kilometers are usually accumulated from training or possible runs during the basic fitness season.
Endurance runners may run large amounts of kilometers per week. Määttänen’s mileage hasn’t been big yet. At the camp in Etelä, we had a record week, 70 kilometers. As a rule, he has been running 50–60 km weeks.
– Not terribly typical endurance training, a bit like a more modern perspective on the sport, i.e. a lot of interval-type running, says Määttänen.
Määttänen’s coach Jan Petrac has learned from abroad and studied a lot of coaching after his own career. He is currently studying to become a coach in the IAAF program of the International Association of Athletics Federations.
– I have been privileged to train in good groups such as, for example Marcin Lewandowski with. I have learned, studied, observed, used some of my own experience and mixed them, explains the 26-year-old Petrac about his own coaching background.
Lewandowski from Poland is a multiple medalist in the 800 meters.
Besides sports, Määttänen works in a pharmacy
Eveliina Määttänen graduated as a pharmacist three years ago and works 30 hours a week at a pharmacy in Kerava.
– It suits me and it’s good too. I’m used to working. It’s quite a bit of scheduling, but it’s been successful.
Fortunately, Määttänen has a flexible employer. He had used two weeks of his month’s vacation for the spring camp in the south, and the other two weeks have been reserved for the upcoming European Championships, when yet another vacation request popped up.
– I told the employer that this was the World Cup, laughs Määttänen.
The holiday was arranged and Määttänen got unpaid leave for Eugene’s World Cup trip.
Working is suitable for many athletes and guarantees that the athlete will manage financially. However, it is clear that working at the top level weakens sports performance. An athlete chasing a perfect performance needs restorative periods, especially during prestigious competitions.
– 30 hours a week is a pretty tight workload combined with sports, so far it has worked just fine. It requires scheduling, describes Määttänen.
– The training programming also goes so that I get work shifts and then together with Jani we will see how these training sessions would be implemented here. Such a puzzle is always on the desktop.
During a vacation from work and sports, free time for a half miler is often on the cards.
– Hobbies are so calming. I go for walks and walk my parents’ dog. It’s nice to go to the forest and enjoy nature.
Määttänen is also enthusiastic about crocheting.
– During this summer, I have crocheted one summer top for myself.
In the World Cup, even a place in the semifinals would be a tough bet
Jan Petrac ran on 24.7. in 2014, sixth in the finals of the Junior World Championships in Eugene, USA. Määtä would be waiting for the 800-meter World Championship final eight years later at Eugene’s Hayward Field.
At the upcoming World Championships in Eugene, Määttä, coached by Petrac, would be waiting for the 800-meter final eight years later.
However, the fact that Määttänen would run in the World Championship finals in a few days would require that he clear the preliminaries first and then the even tougher semi-finals.
– There is only one goal in the World Championships – to reach the semi-finals first. The fact that Eveliina could continue would be a great success, says Petrac.
Määttänen is the sixth best in his own heat, if we compare the best times of the season. Three athletes from the preliminaries go directly to the next round. In addition to these, six athletes make it to the semi-finals based on time comparison.
In the preliminary heats, 31 athletes have run faster than Määttänen this season. A total of 24 runners will make it to the semi-finals.
In the future, less than 2 minutes and the Paris Olympics
Petrac and Määttänen met each other by chance. Määttänen with a training partner Only on Paunose had a hand in it.
– We were at a training camp in northern Italy in Busso Lengo near Verona with Paunonen Aino. Jan was also there at the camp because he had an Italian coach.
Aino Paunonen’s husband is also Slovenian and knew Jan Petrac.
Today, Petrac lives in Kerava with Määttänen and coaches him. Even Petrac didn’t think that the record improvement in the 800 meters that he was coaching would be so huge in the first season.
– If you had asked me a year ago, I would not have believed that 2.01 was possible. We were hoping for a time of 2.04 or 2.03, but this exceeds all expectations, says Petrac.
So how is that possible?
– Everything has worked really well, no injuries, no problems, knock on wood. The trainings have gone well. All the competitions have also gone as we have planned and the ranking system has worked, describes Petrac.
Määttänen made it to the World Championships thanks to the ranking system.
– Without pressure, I can go there and do my own good performance. With a relaxed mind and eagerness to experience value race running, says Määttänen.
In the future, Petrac believes that Määttänen will break the tough 2-minute mark and run at the Paris Olympics in 2024.