The chairman of the Olympic Committee, Jan Vapaavuori, ponders whether Finland should forget about the wide range of sports and invest in only a few sports in the future.
Emma Hyuppa,
Jelena Leppänen
Paris Olympics on channels 26.7.–11.8. Go to the competition website here. You can find the entire program of the games here.
The medal stitches left unused by the Finns at the Paris Olympics are sparking discussion in the sports-crazy nation. However, the Finnish Olympic bosses did not admit that they were worried, at least in front of the media on Saturday evening.
Director of the elite sports unit of the Olympic Committee Matti Heikkinen does not want to analyze the performance of the Olympic team as a whole yet. Finland has entered the Games with the goal of two medals.
– The match is still unfinished, so to speak. Let’s watch the games to the end and then it’s time for analysis, Heikkinen stated.
Only a small part of the Finnish Olympic team has gone to the Paris Games even with cautious hopes of success. Among them, among others, a shooter Eetu Kallioinenjudoka Martti Puumalainen and a swimmer Matti Mattsson’s the games ended with great disappointments.
– It goes without saying that you have to understand that for many athletes just getting here is a big achievement, Heikkinen said.
Chairman of the Olympic Committee Jan Vapaavuori says that he followed the Finns’ progress with a good heart. According to Vapaavuori, it is usual for about a third of the athletes to perform at their own level, a third to exceed it and a third to fall short of their basic level.
There hasn’t been a single real medal favorite in the Finnish team in Paris. Vapaavuori is still not looking forward to the historic Games with zero medals.
– Yes, we still have medal seams. There are still a lot of opportunities left, Vapaavuori said.
Other Nordic countries to follow
Sweden has already received five medals at the Paris Games. From other Nordic countries, Denmark opened its medal account on Saturday with team silver in dressage, and on the same evening, Norwegian sports fans experienced memorable moments when Markus Rooth won gold in the decathlon. Runners are also among the medal favorites in Norwegian athletics Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Karsten Warholm.
Finland is therefore the only one of the large Nordic countries without a medal.
– If you look at the Tokyo Games and the Summer Olympics that preceded them, Sweden, Norway and Denmark all fared clearly better than Finland. We have been behind other Nordic countries for a long time, Vapaavuori said.
Medals in other Nordic countries have also been tight in Paris, which, according to Vapaavuori, indicates a tough level on the biggest sports stage of all.
– The world is betting on top sports. Our population is less than a quarter of the world’s population and we try to do our best in that group.
What should Finland do better?
– These are things that are considered after the Games. Now let’s see how it goes in these games, but after the games we have to go through this whole system of ours. The question arises whether we should make stricter choices, that we invest in only a few sports instead of a wide range of sports, Vapaavuori said and added:
– I don’t think it will help anything to start having a wider discussion about how we are doing in the middle of the games.
Prime Minister of Finland Petteri Orpo (kok) stated that Finland’s Olympic success is important not only for the athletes themselves but also for Finnish bench athletes. Major sporting events traditionally have the effect of uniting people.
– I am so proud of our athletes and that they are doing their best. It’s a shame that those best performance days haven’t hit everyone, but we have a lot of athletes still coming. Let’s cheer them on, and there will still be some medals, Orpo said.