Tuomas Seppänen, 36, who was caught in a violent plunge spiral, seemed to have already finished his prestige racing career – one moment raised hopes for a place in the World Cup

The broadcast of the opening day of the World Athletics Championships starts on TV2 and Areena at 18:45. Tuomas Seppänen will throw the men’s moukari qualification in the A group at 19:05 and Aaron Kangas in the B group at 20:30. You can find all race news here and the entire race program and broadcast times here.

Finland’s exceptionally large World Cup team has 36 athletes. However, only three athletes have World Cup final experience. Javelin thrower Lassi Etelätalo and a triple jumper Kristiina Mäkelä were in the final competition at the World Championships in Doha 2019.

The trio is completed by a pitcher Tuomas Seppänen. He advanced to the finals at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, where he was tenth.

Seppänen, 36,’s previous representation in the competition was from 2016 at the European Championships in Amsterdam. Many Finnish track and field followers could already think that the man will no longer be seen on prestigious competition fields.

Then came the fall of 2021. Seppänen looked for fun to see what games the summer of 2022 would hold. After looking at Eugene’s MM ranking, he had a flash.

– I realized that it is the World Championships in Oregon. I saw that I am in quite good places in the ranking. The ranking was 33, which means I was almost in last place. I thought, heck, if I can improve that a little bit, I can participate in the value competition. It gave an extra boost to training.

In Eugene, Seppänen will be seen in the second World Championships of his career. Finland’s big World Cup team and especially the ranking’s contribution to competition places have sparked discussion.

– It’s not just a matter of what kind of competitions are held. Of course, you have to make a decent result in order to be able to catch up with good ranking points with some kind of ranking, Seppänen reminds.

Seppänen’s place in the World Cup came as a bonus in the end. In Eugene, he still aims for the final race.

In addition to prestigious competitions, Seppänen’s goal this season is to win his first championship at the Kaleva Games. He has no less than eight SM silvers. There have been many times in the way of gold Olli-Pekka Karjalainen or David Soderberg.

– The goal has only been to challenge myself to better results and set my own record. However, it means a lot more if I do well here (in the value races), Seppänen says about his mentality in recent years.

Seppänen threw his record of 76.20 in May 2016 in Halle, Germany. He linked 75.02 last summer. This season, the leka has flown at its best to 74.97.

The results in question are Seppänen’s longest streak since 2016.

There have been many twists and turns in the journey between Seppänen’s record year and this year. He has had injuries and illnesses.

– There have been small unfortunate things, which, however, in the big picture make a dent in the wallet, so to speak. For example, in the summer of 2016 I got a herniated disc. The European Championships in Amsterdam should have been skipped. It then backfired the following winter.

After that, the man suffered from dizziness, which messed up his throwing technique. In 2020, the Tokyo Olympics were bright in mind, but the games were moved by a year due to the corona pandemic.

– When Tokyo moved, I was probably struggling with mental problems. There was an empty feeling about why we are throwing here anymore. The fundamental reasons were passion and joy for this sport.

Even though the motivation was a bit lacking a couple of years ago, Seppänen didn’t want to stop just yet. However, he wanted to bring something else along with the sports life.

A couple of years ago, he started working as a factory worker at the nonwoven fabric factory in Nakkila.

– I was not able to accumulate summer vacation for last summer yet, because I was in a fixed-term employment relationship. Combining training and work is easy. But when the competitions come in the summer, it’s a little bit away from everything.

This season, Seppänen will be able to take his summer vacation. He is able to train between games.

– I have a couple of morning shifts and a couple of night shifts. I practice before the night shift. You can also train well during the long days off.

– It doesn’t quite suit me that I’m such a full-weight top athlete. I feel like I’m training a little too much then.

Moukari’s international performance level has clearly been on the rise over the past couple of years. Last season, five throwers broke the 80-meter mark, and this year, six. At the Tokyo Olympics, the entire trio of medalists broke the 80-meter mark. The last time there were as many 80-meter throwers was in 2013.

– Moukar’s level has experienced a small renaissance. Of course that’s a good thing. As the arcs get longer, interest increases, Seppänen knows.

Seppäse also has a Finnish club in the men’s moukari race of the World Cup. He makes his value competition debut in Eugene Aaron Kangas, who is third in Finland’s all-time statistics with his record of 79.05. They are hotel roommates in Eugene.

Is Seppänen going to give value competition tips to his colleague who is 11 years younger?

– I can’t really consider myself Aaron’s mentor, because he has a better record than I do, Seppänen elaborates.

– If he asks something, of course I answer. We try to keep the atmosphere relaxed. Aaron is a grown-up athlete, so there’s no doubt that he won’t handle a new situation.