Viivi Lehikoinen came close to the final place in the 400 meter semi-finals. Lehikoinen came within eight hundredths of his Finnish record, which was not enough for the final.
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Viivi Lehikoinen broke the second best time of his career at the World Championships in Hungary in the semi-finals of the 400m hurdles. Lehikoinen scored 54.48, with which he was only eight hundredths short of the Finnish record set in June.
– I do not really know. In a way, a really good run. The fact that you could wait to see if you would make it to the World Cup final was already really great. But… I don’t know, Lehikoinen said and covered his mouth with his hand.
Lehikoinen was clearly emotional in the interview.
– Somehow the emotions on the surface. In the way that he did not reach the final and in the way that he has reached this level, Lehikoinen said with a trembling voice.
After the interview, Lehikoinen broke down in tears. Lehikoinen’s reaction can be seen in the video that is the main image of this story. The use of the video is subject to the athlete’s permission.
Lehikoinen started strongly and even fought for second place in the final straight. of the United States Anna Cockrell however, with his record of 53.63, he took the last guaranteed place. Jamaica won the set Russell Clayton at 53.30.
Lehikoinen states that he saw a bit of the situation when coming to the final straight, but the curve also obscured the real situation.
– When I came to the straight, I could see that the layout is really good. I wanted to fight until the end. Sadly, I had to give up a little at the end.
The Finn covered the first 200 meters with a time of 25.16, while in the preliminaries he crossed the halfway mark with a time of 25.51. Lehikoinen says, however, that he didn’t start too hard at the risk.
Based on the time comparison, Lehikoinen’s time was not enough for the final. A Finnish record would have been required for the final competition, as the last one to reach the final on time was Italy Aymide Folorunso with a time of 53.89.
– I knew what my condition was and where the pebbles were. I would have hoped for a little better time. Today it was that.
Lehikoinen, who ran the Finnish record of 54.40 in June, has often been at his best in prestigious competitions. Last season, he broke the Finnish record both at the World Championships in Eugene and at the European Championships in Munich.
At the World Championships, 54.60 and 13th place were recorded for the time. In the European Championships, he reached the final with a SE time of 54.50 and was ultimately sixth.