The spear guru, who recovered from the heart attack, gave a harsh assessment of Lassi Etelätalo – a value contestant trusts the view: “Not just a lexicon imagination”

84.98. Lassi Etelätalo snatched that record number less than eight years ago. With this throw, Etelätalo became the 15th best Finnish shooter on the all-time list and he was expected to be the next big Finnish shooter.

The 80-meter Etelätalo had crossed for the first time in 2011. The development curve was thus rising, but after a record summer, injuries have driven Joensuu’s Kataja thrower’s career into a considerable roller coaster.

The heavy thrower himself answers the record queries cryptically, but also with confidence.

– Such a seam has been almost every year since, but it has not been possible yet. Last year, half a meter was left of it, Etelätalo tells Urheilu.

– But if it’s a summer like last year, then its record should come somewhere in the race. I believe in it myself. It is not a mere “Lexan” fantasy.

Etelätalo, which turns 34 at the end of April, has been cooperating with Pusa for years. The coaching legend took over the responsibility for coaching Etelätalo in 2014.

Pusa, who has coached several javelin throwers to international fame, had a heart attack last year but has failed to coach.

It is important for the South House to continue cooperating, even if he had continued his career without Pusa. For several years now, he has been planning the rhythm of the training himself, but Pusa has been involved in throwing exercises as a watchful eye.

– It was a great thing that he promised to join for another season. We’ve been working together for almost 20 years and we know each other well, so it’s easy to move on.

After his record-breaking throw, his elbow has been cut from Etelätalo a couple of times, and when he got out of this injury thread, his ankle symptoms and Achilles heel began. The ankle of the outrigger was cut just over four years ago, but he has escaped the Achilles heel in the transition period since last season.

Etelätalo said in December Sports Association website (go to another service)that the Achilles ailments affected his running practice last season and he had to fetch more force. Etelätalo compensates for running workouts with strength training, so his fitness on the strength side was better than ever before.

Last season was evenly steady at the South House. Etelätalo threw in ten races and was less than 80 meters only twice.

From the graphics below, you can see how the average of the three best race results of the South House season has developed since the summer of 2017 onwards.

This winter, Etelätalo has practiced mostly in the Helsinki metropolitan area and has also attended short excerpts at Pajulahti Sports College. He makes the southern camp in the Portuguese heat.

Next summer, Etelätalo hopes to be able to take advantage of its new level of strength and the added value of normal running training.

– I can throw a spear at high power, the health is good enough then. There have been minor illnesses, but no bigger problem. As a whole, the winter has gone quite well in terms of exercise.

Lassi Etelätalo is known as an athlete who knows how to be in the best stroke during the most important moments of the season. However, valuable medals have circled him.

In the first adult championship of his career, the 2014 European Championships in Zurich, Etelätalo threw in his second best throw of the season 83.16 and placed fourth.

If Etelätalo had at that time been able to throw in the same record readings as he had thrown three weeks earlier, Etelätalo could have challenged the medal trio. Antti Ruuskanen – Vitezslav Vesely – Tero Pitkämäki better. Pitkämäki won bronze with a result of 84.40, Vesely silver with a result of 84.79 and Ruuskanen won European Championship gold with its current record of 88.01.

Etelätalo also finished fourth in the 2019 World Cup in Doha, but at that time the difference between the medals was almost three meters. The World Cup final throw of 82.49 was the second best of the season for Etelätalo, and he should have improved his best of the season by more than a meter to reach the medal battle.

At the Tokyo Olympics last summer, the South House was at its best level of the season. He threw his best of the season at 84.50 and was the only Finn to make it to the finals.

In the final, he threw his second-best throw of the season at 83.28 and that was enough instead of eighth. A record improvement of less than half a meter would have been required for the bronze medal from Etelätalo.

Etelätalo was one of the winners of the Finnish team, but the good result was not directly visible in his wallet.

– Directly from the Olympics, there will be no prize money, but yes, it will enable better support for training for the following seasons. It was an important investment for that too.

This summer, athletes are facing a real super summer, with the World Championship medals in the United States in July and the European Championships starting three weeks later in Germany. In addition to the value competitions in Eugene and Munich, Etelätalo will receive additional power from the Kaleva Games, which will be held in Joensuu.

– My main goal is the World Cup. Then the Kaleva Games and the European Championships will be received in good condition, Etelätalo plans.

In its long career, Etelätalo has won five Finnish Championship medals, two of which have been gold. In a tough spear country like Finland, a lot of work always has to be done in front of the medals, and Etelätalo, who won the previous two championships last year, had to settle for a silver medal.

Last season’s Finnish champion Oliver Helander is probably the toughest javelin thrower in Finland next summer, and his collaboration with his new coach Tero Pitkämäki has started quite well.

According to Etelätalo, Pitkämäki, who decided on his throwing career more than two years ago, is a shooter of the same type as Helander. He believes that there is now a duo working together and Pitkämäki can refine the features and technology of the 25-year-old Helander.

– I think Oliver will be really tough next summer, as long as he stays intact. He has spent many years wrestling with injuries.

Helander was the top scorer in the Kaleva Games last season with a throw of 86.13. Last summer, a total of six Finnish throwers crossed 80 meters. The reading was exceptional, as there have been only three to four border crossings in recent years. Five years ago, only two throwers broke that line: Pitkämäki and Helander.

Etelätalo expects good standards from the coming spear summer.

– I believe that the Kuuselan Toni also throws a hard result. Hopefully, he will also get steadily tough results, Etelätalo said of last season’s statistic runner-up (85.03) and Finnish Championship bronze medalist.

Although the athletics season is just beginning in the winter, Etelätalo does not want to waste time. During the summer, there is not much time left for practice training, so the technique should be repaired immediately in the spring or at the latest in the early summer.

However, the bigger question than the technology is: will Lassi Etelätalo’s body last two races?

– Yes, the body lasts, Etelätalo assures.