“There can be challenges with that”

The javelin throwers of the World Athletics Championships have a new kind of challenge ahead of them in Oregon, or more precisely below them.

The running tracks at Oregon’s Hayward Field are covered with a material that is not familiar to many of the javelin participants. The covering is produced by the American company Beynon Sports, but the company’s products have not yet broken through to the European market.

Since last year’s US Olympic qualifiers and this year’s national championships were held on the World Cup stage, the US throwers have the best feel for the more special platform.

Finns will only become familiar with the conditions of the stadium through the qualifiers. Sanne Erkkola throws in the women’s A qualifying group on Thursday at 1:20 a.m. and Toni Keränen, Lasse Etelätalo mixed Oliver Helander in the men’s javelin qualification on Friday from either 3:05 or 4:35.

Among the manufacturers of coatings for athletics fields worldwide, perhaps the most famous are the Italian Mondo, which has implemented, for example, the running tracks of the Helsinki Olympic Stadium, and the American multi-industry giant 3M with its Tartan tracks. During the history of the stadium, the surface of the Olympic Stadium has seen, among other things, brick rubble, tartan, novotan and a couple of different mondos.

Lassi Etelätalo, who visited the launch site, told Urheilu on Tuesday that he hopes that the platform does not spoil anyone’s performance in the qualifying. In recent memory are the German spearhead Johannes Vetter the coach By Boris Obergföll bitter comments about the coating of the Tokyo stadium’s pitch.

– I hope it won’t be like in Tokyo. At that time, many missed their throws because the support slipped and the platform didn’t hold. Personally, I don’t think I have any problems with it, as I’ve never had one before, Etelätalo estimates.

What does Hayward Field have in common with the Tokyo Olympic Stadium?

– Nothing at all, Etelätalo says and laughs.

– Tokyo’s platform was mondo and this is more like tartan or novotan. Completely different in structure, Etelätalo sums up.

Toni Keränen says that when he got to know the stadium, he noticed that the coating of the throwing area has already crumbled a little after the previous games.

– The coating is thin, so you have to put shorter spikes in the spikes than normal. For those throwers who throw really well against the support, the throwing position can be challenging. I slide the support myself (the heel of the support leg hits the throwing pad first and the spikes of the spike only after), so there can be challenges with it.

According to Keränen, the surface of the pitch has a hard feel and is therefore probably also fast. Liminkalainen has also had his equipment honed to suit the platform.

– I tuned my spikes on the training ground so that at least the brace didn’t stretch there. We’ll see how it goes at the stadium, Keränen states.

In Keränen’s opinion, carefully getting to know the throwing place is the only way to be ready for the qualification in terms of equipment. The “tuning” of the spikes must therefore be done well in advance.

– Can’t do anything about it at the competition venue anymore. If you start to be careful of the platform, throwing becomes useless and the technique gets messed up.

Aside from the surface, Hayward Field has one significant difference from a typical sports stadium: it is designed for athletics only. At the same time, this means that the stadium cannot accommodate, for example, a football field, because the venues for field sports are built inside the running track.

In the javelin throw, this means that the course of the competition does not have to be interrupted for a moment, for example, because the participants in the 10,000 meter run would sweep across the pacer track just as the thrower was preparing for his performance.

Throwing sports are also all performed in the same direction, towards the open end of the field. Since there are partially covered stands behind the athletes’ backs and on the sides, a headwind is almost guaranteed for the throwing sports.

In Toni Keränen’s opinion, the most important thing in Oregon’s stadium is that the javelin can be launched in the right position.

– Of course, you have to have the power behind, but if the spear doesn’t start in the right position, it won’t fly anywhere. Up until now, there has been a headwind at the throwing site every day, and it inoculates even more if you don’t know how to put the javelin at the right angle, Keränen sums up the circumstances.

Liminkalainen says that he is satisfied with the throw in the qualification, which will take him to the final.

– I’m going with interest to see how my fitness is enough against the best in the world. On the one hand, you have to go full throttle, but on the other hand, you shouldn’t demand miracles. Your basic throw should be enough for the final.

– It doesn’t matter if I throw the 75-meter and I’m in the final or the 90-meter.

Also on Thursday morning, Finnish time, throwing the women’s javelin in the qualifying group A Sanne Erkkola considers controlling circumstances the key to success.

– You just have to dare to come to the support, the throw works when the legs work to the end. In my own throw, it is also important that the elbow rises appropriately and that I can make the stroke forward, and not upwards. The winds have been a bit against us here, so it would not be worth throwing seagull throws in the qualifying, Erkkola stated the day before the qualifying.

– It depends on the thrower how well he can handle the headwind. For some, that’s fine. The headwind has been a bit difficult for me at times, but it’s not an obstacle. We have to push forward, Erkkola sums up.

The women’s javelin qualifying will be contested next night. Sanne Erkkola will throw in qualifying group A from 01:20.

The men’s javelin throw qualification will be thrown in the Wednesday evening session, i.e. in the morning Finnish time on Thursday, July 21. Qualifying group A starts its competition at 3:05 a.m. and qualifying group B throws from 4:35 a.m.

Finland is represented in the qualification Oliver Helander, Toni Keränen and Lassi Etelätalo. You can watch the qualifying live on TV2 and Areena.