Viljami Kaasalainen’s winning time in the men’s 400 meters was 46.23.
Joel Sippola,
Laura Arffman
The Kaleva Games in Lahti 27.–30.7. Urheilu follows the events in this article.
Viljami Kaasalainen was responsible for perhaps the hardest performance on Saturday of the Kaleva Games. The runner of Jyväskylä Kenttäurleilidö broke his impressive record of 46.23 in the 400 meters in heavy rain.
It is the hardest Finnish ride on this trip since 1991, when Mikael Söderman pressed for a time of 45.86.
Kaasalainen has been on a record-breaking streak lately. He ran his then-record 46.32 a week ago at the Lappeenranta GP. Kaasalainen is number six in Finland’s all-time statistics.
Litimärkä Kaasalainen violently aired his Finnish championship. Kaasalainen, who was on a hard lactic acid trip, gave the reason for his ventilation.
– I admit that I actually vented that I have my next “knee” only in two weeks, the recent Finnish champion said.
– This is quite painful mentally. There was a lot of pressure today. Actually, it was just a good feeling that I managed this at home and the record came as a bonus.
The harshness of the Kaasa period is underlined by the harsh weather.
– This was not good weather. But maybe it’s positive that it wasn’t windy today. The wind can easily ruin a 400-meter run, Kaasalainen said.
– There was a surprising amount of water on that track as well. It certainly slowed down with every step, but you don’t think about that in that run. And apparently it didn’t slow down terribly when the record came!
The Finnish record for 400 meters is Markku Kukkoahon 45.49 run in 1972. A few seasons ago, Kaasalainen, who switched from shorter trips to track laps, has told in interviews about his dream of breaking the Finnish record that has been over 50 years old.
The Kaleva Games in Lahti 27.–30.7. Urheilu follows the events in this article.