This is how the Tampere athletics competition is prepared for possible severe weather – the pole comet Alasaari tells when the weather becomes dangerous

The domestic GP series of athletics culminates with the Tampere competition on Tuesday, August 8. The approach starts on TV2 at 18:30 and in Areena at 17:45.

At the under-23 European Championships in Espoo this summer, he won pole vault gold Juho Alasaari tells Urheilu what kind of weather conditions pole vaulters are afraid of the most.

– Gusty and sideways wind is the most dangerous. It surprises you in the middle of picking up speed and in that situation usually makes too many countermoves.

– Sometimes I have missed jumping, but then almost the whole race is always cancelled. That is, when it has been pouring rain and the wind against the side, and stormy weather on top of that. It doesn’t make sense to jump anymore, guides the stick promise.

Alasaari is participating in the Tampere GP race today, Tuesday. According to current information, stormy weather is not expected for Tuesday evening at Ratina Stadium, which was forecast for Finland a few days ago.

– The weather information is changing a little all the time. The last time I looked at them, (the forecast for Tuesday) looked so good and quite promising. I’ll settle for that, there’s no point in spoiling the atmosphere, Alasaari acknowledges the talk about possible bad weather.

The fiercest version of the Hans storm predicted for Finland seems to remain on Sweden’s side, but stronger than usual winds and thunderstorms are also expected in Finland on Tuesday.

If necessary, Ratina’s jump site is turned to favor non-jumpers, although the operation is never completely effortless, nor easy.

– It is good that there is an opportunity for that. In the fishing group, we usually have a talcoom team, and we can also help with towing the mattresses, because we prefer good tailwinds.

Kujanpää is hoped for a fishing spot

It remains to be seen whether Chengdu’s fresh Universiade gold medalist will want it Urho Kujanpää to jump in the race after his long flight.

– I hope he will show up, and the same momentum will continue, so we can get a tough-level Finnish duo to take the pole position, hopes Alasaari.

Alasaari won gold in the under-23 European Championships with a record improvement of no less than eleven cents, with a score of 571. Alasaari, who won the Finnish championship in the Kaleva Games, says that his self-confidence has grown with good performances.

– The right things have been done and the technique has also been more consistent when jumping from higher heights. Technically, a little caution has taken a backseat, and I have dared to do things more boldly, 19-year-old Alasaari sees.

For Alasaari, the competition in Tampere is the finishing touch for the World Championships in Budapest starting on August 19.

Competition director Hosio: Prepared for good competitions

On Monday, the sun was still shining in Ratina, but the wind felt quite strong on the spot.

Tampere GP competition director Jukka Hosio says with confidence that the organizers will not worry about possible wind or rain on Tuesday evening.

– In addition to the wind and rain, we have prepared for good races. In athletics, transfers are always made as late as possible, because the wind varies and when the sun goes down, that’s when the wind usually calms down as well.

What species have been prepared to move with the wind in mind?

– The wind affects sprinting. Let’s try to get them a good race, and race downwind. In the long jump, the wind affects the change of jump direction, says Hosio.

According to the competition director, the decisions regarding the runs can be made a couple of hours earlier, the long jump on behalf of the organizers even an hour before. If, on the other hand, the direction is changed in the seipää, it is a significantly longer procedure, because the mattresses are moved and the racks are adjusted.

How bad do the conditions have to be in order to have to stop the races?

– There must be a security risk. Loud thunder or if there is lightning all the time. You can run 5000 meters in quite a bit of wind and heavy rain, but then you have to start asking if there are some other sports where the conditions are dangerous.

Hosio reminds that special arrangements come up every now and then.

– We always try to prepare for them as well. Rain is the most common of these and usually the worst. The weather forecast is closely monitored, and if it rains heavily, the races are usually just suspended for the duration.

The competition director’s worst personal memory in terms of special arrangements is from less than ten years ago in Ratina.

– I myself have once had a long jump where a couple of jumps went too far and then there was a shocking downpour where I tried to jump twice. Finally, the race was stopped for half an hour. After the rain, drying of the track and waiting, others were able to jump in better conditions. The radio phones didn’t even work during the terrible downpour, Hosio recalled.