Topi Raitanen’s European Championship gold and Kristiina Mäkelä’s European Championship silver were celebrated at a Suomen hotel. Finland has now won three medals at the European Athletics Championships.
Emma Hyuppa,
Hinn Hirvonen
The European Championship week in Munich can be seen on channels from August 11 to August 21. You can find live broadcasts, highlights, the competition schedule, interesting news and topics on ‘s competition page.
Top Raitanen returned Finnish endurance running to the gold standard on Friday evening, when he won the European Championship gold in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. The trick worked last time Jukka Keskisalo 16 years ago.
Kristiina Mäkelä completed the Finnish celebration by grabbing EC silver in the triple jump with an SE result a moment later. The last time Finns won two EC medals on the same day was in 2014, when Antti Ruuskanen and Tero Pitkämäki won the EC gold and bronze in the javelin throw.
The Finnish medalists were received jubilantly at the hotel. Many Finnish athletes congratulated the new gold medalist by hugging them. Raitanen got to the golden chair soon after his arrival, as did his coach Janne Ukonmaanaho. Soon, the journey continued together with another medalist Mäkelä towards a nearby fountain, where both received a medal baptism.
– It feels pretty good. Happy feeling, time went according to plan. It was nice to be against the crowd. This is a new beginning for Finnish athletics. Hopefully, the upward flight will continue from here and will also be seen in the next generations, Raitanen talked recently.
Raitanen’s journey continued soon on Saturday morning to Finland, where a friend’s wedding was waiting.
Mäkelä already received a hug from Raitase after the gold medalist’s lap of honor. A little after this, Mäkelä jumped his record jump that brought him a medal. At the hotel, the fresh EC silver medalist revealed that the main feeling was fatigue.
– I’m so tired, absolutely exhausted. I left everything on the track! If we start talking about feelings, tears will come to our eyes, Mäkelä talked.