The two-time World Cup bronze medalist is aiming for the first Paralympics of his career, where he will start as one of the medal favourites.
Micke Suopuro,
Petri Sjöblom
Friday was quite a day of celebration for the Finnish athletes at the para-athletic world championships. Leo-Pekka Tähti won his first World Championship gold in five years earlier in the morning.
In Kobe’s darkening evening, it was the shot putter’s turn Teijo Kööpikän time to celebrate. He pushed the WC bronze in the F57 class with a result of 14.74. The result was Kööpikä’s best of the season and was only six centimeters short of his record.
– The race was really good. I am really satisfied, even though the judging line was quite strict. It was really nice to push.
The world championship was taken by the world record holder, Iran Yasin Khosravi, with a result of 15.83. Brazil won silver Thiago Paulino dos Santos with a result of 15.08.
– I have done everything as well and wisely as possible. A World Cup medal is a great thing, but my thoughts are on the Paralympics. Let’s see if we can turn someone aside in the fall, says Kööpikkä.
Kööpikka also won the World Championship bronze a year ago in Paris. He has already secured his place in next fall’s Paralympics in Paris, which are the first of their kind for the mortarman.
Katse has also been in Paris at the expense of the World Cup.
– Before the turn of the year, we cleaned up our elbows and have been training really hard for the fall. Towards the World Championships, it was therefore a puzzle how to deal with relaxation and elasticity, Kööpikkä describes.
Kööpikkä, 43, told Urheilu a year ago how the Paralympics gave him the opportunity to pursue his old dream of the Olympics.
The life of the two-meter shot putter was turned upside down in the summer of 2005. Under-20 EC bronze medalist and men’s shot putter Kööpikka was diagnosed with spinal muscular degeneration. A promising career ended at the age of 24, and the dream seemed to be dashed.
Until the wheelchair push came into the picture. He got the rating a year ago, and since then his new career has been on the rise. Hopefully, the climax awaits on the sixth of September at the Paralympics.
– When I started this, the goal was to break the world record, which at the time was 15.26. Although the record has since improved, I have not changed the goal. I want to break the 15 meter limit in the fall, Kööpikkä line.
Kööpikä’s medal was Finland’s fourth of the ongoing World Championships. The races are followed behind this link. Henry Manni will compete in the 800m World Championship final on Saturday. The broadcast starts at 10:50 on TV2.