Reetta Hurske won the European championship in the EC indoor competitions in Istanbul on Sunday. Hurske is the first Finnish woman to win a medal in high-speed hurdles.
Hinn Hirvonen,
Emma Jump
5.3. 20:05•Updated 5.3. 21:52
Reetta Hurske won European Championship gold in the women’s 60m hurdles at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Istanbul on Sunday.
Hurske sided with his winning time of 7.79 from his Finnish record. Holland’s Nadine Visser fell short of the season’s best 7.84 for EC silver. Switzerland took the bronze Ditaji Kambundji (7.91).
This is Finland’s first medal in women’s high-speed fences at the adult competition level.
Hurske himself said that he understood at the last fence that the European championship was coming.
– At the start I was quite aggressive and I felt that it went really well. When I came down from the last fence, I realized that there was no one next to me in sight and I knew that it was going to be smooth and then that was it.
Hurske has been in a phenomenal mood during the government period. Before Istanbul, he had already set five Finnish records during the Halli period and went into the race as the biggest favorite to win.
Hurske was the fastest in the morning’s semi-finals with a time of 7.85 and was only six hundredths short of the Finnish record in his own name.
Visser and Kambundji entered the competition as Hurskee’s biggest challengers.
The Finnish sailor admitted that he was under pressure from the pre-favorite cape.
– Yes, I had quite a lot of pressure after the Madrid race. Until then, I was only focused on the Games. But when you knew that you’re in good shape and have a pretty big chance of winning and instead of a challenger, you’re the early favorite…
– He wants to win it so badly that he was very nervous. I knew that it was the star moment of my career, I was no longer a contender, but I actually had opportunities. This feels damn good!
Sports expert Tuomas Raja described Hurskee’s performance as perfect.
– 60 meter hurdles is a sport where you can make a mistake at any stage. You have to be able to focus solely on your own performance. Reetta succeeded perfectly in this tight spot. Everything went smoothly, an excellent familiar start, well down from the first fence and from there the run started to absorb forward, Raja began.
– All in all, the others had nothing to lose when Reetta Hurske, Tampereen Pyrintö, takes the European championship, Raja continued with a trembling voice.
The medal was Finland’s second in the EC indoor competitions. Wilma Murto opened Finland’s medal account on Saturday when he won European Championship gold in the pole vault.
However, Murto headed back to Finland right after the award ceremony on Sunday morning.
– I was told that yes, you will do Wilma today, and I then did Wilma! We will probably have time to enjoy the medal coffees with Wilma later. But it feels really good to be able to share moments like this with someone like that, Hurske talked.
“I am forever grateful to him”
In the interview, Hurske also thanked his coach Marjukka Suihkoa. The duo’s collaboration has continued for almost 17 years.
– You can’t even describe it (his importance) in words. We have grown together in my sports career, he works really hard for me in addition to his day job. I am forever grateful to him, Hurske commented.
Suihko has seen great potential in Hurskee.
– Reetta has toured all youth competitions and has been in all adult competitions. Success requires that proper timing succeeds and the athlete is able to be healthy and intact. I would consider self-confidence very important in a sport like this.
Reetta Hurskee’s career has not only been about winning. In Finland, he had to settle for third place for a long time due to the high level of fast paddlers. Nooralotta Neziri and Annimari Korte were alternately in Tampere’s way.
– Sport is mainly about managing disappointments. In the end, there are very few successes compared to the work that is done every day. These then carry forward.