The Finnish sports audience went crazy for the pole vaulter last summer Wilma from Murro and hurdler Top from Raitase. However, the sport of neither European champion is prominently featured in next summer’s race calendar of the domestic GP series.
There will be five GP races next season. However, the women’s pole vault and the men’s 3,000-meter hurdles are on the program only once. The women’s pole vault is in Oulu and the men’s hurdles is in Joensuu.
Last summer there were two women’s pole vaults, but no men’s hurdles.
Also, the sports of many other Finnish top names from last summer are rarely on the GP calendar. The women’s 400-meter hurdles and the women’s hurdles are on the program twice.
The background is that Finland’s brightest stars want to compete in high-level competitions abroad.
Murro’s goal is to tour the Diamond League next summer. Raitanen also goes under the terms of the international competition calendar, but he plans to participate in the steeplechase in Joensuu.
SE woman of 400m hurdles Viivi Lehikoinen competes a lot abroad. Promoter of the GP races in Joensuu Tuomo Lehtinen admits that targeting top athletes at international competitions has at least a partial effect on how the sports in question are represented in the GP series.
– We now have such tough athletes who will compete in the Diamond League if they get there. That’s how it’s always been, says Lehtinen.
The GP races are of course only one part of the domestic competition calendar. In the early summer, top domestic competitions are also the Paavo Nurme competitions and the World Athletics silver level competition held in Kuortane. The GP competitions belong to the bronze series of the International Association of Athletics Federations, i.e. category C.
The sport coverage of the Paavo Nurmi Games and the Kuortanene Games is not yet clear, but there will probably be a women’s pole vault in both and a men’s obstacle race in Turku. In recent years, Kuortane has had a 1,500-meter race, in which Raitanen has often participated.
– Wilma wants to tour the toughest international competitions. It is clear that Kuortane and Turku are in Wilma’s program for domestic competitions, Murro’s manager Tero Heiska tells Urheilu.
Possible overlaps
Women’s pole vault is currently a sport in Finland with three international-level athletes. Last summer, the Espoo GP saw the toughest Finnish competition ever, when Murto, Elina Lampela mixed Saga Andersson exceeded 445 or more.
The whole trio was also involved in both the European Championships and the World Championships. In addition to them, the sport has Silja Andersson’s and Tuuli Järvinen such young promises.
Lampela, who reached the final in the European Championships, says that he also plans to compete abroad next summer. However, he admits that one GP race for women’s pole vault is surprising.
– Maybe I was a little surprised that the women’s pole is only in one competition. However, there are three of us athletes of international level, Lampela states.
Jari Töykkä is responsible for the GP series on behalf of the Finnish Sports Federation. He believes that the reason for the small number of women’s pole competitions is the international competitions at the same time.
– It is not a question of consciously wanting to avoid women’s pole vaulting. It’s more about the fact that the women’s pole vault competitions are so close internationally that the athletes are likely to compete elsewhere.
– It has probably happened that pole competitions overlap and Wilma Murto will not compete at the same time in Finland.
Compiling the competition program is made difficult by the fact that next summer’s Diamond League sports program is not yet clear.
– The bronze level sports had to be decided by the end of last month. It’s a bit of a lottery, which sports are in the upper category competitions. On the basis of previous history, it is possible to estimate what species could be there. Of course, other international competitions have also been watched.
Concern for young people
The women’s 400-meter hurdles is a sport that currently has a lot of potential behind Viivi Lehikoinen as well. Debuted last summer at the adult competition level Kristiina Halonen ran his record in the World Championships and reached the semi-finals in the European Championships.
There is a lot of hard talent in the sport. Heidi Salminen won the junior world championship a little over a year ago. Last summer, in the European statistics for under-18s, two Finns were in the top five. Mila Heikkonen was fourth in the European Championships in that age group.
Halonen would have liked more 400-meter hurdle races in the GP series precisely because of the young talents. He reminds that both GP races are at the end of summer.
– There are really good young people in men and women. Maybe it’s not the right place for them to go abroad to compete. It would be important for them to break the limits of the youth competition in the early summer.
– Of course, there are smaller competitions, but at the Finnish level, there aren’t really any competitions of a bigger category in the early summer. For them, this is unfortunate.
Last summer, Halonen qualified for both prestigious competitions through the ranking. He plans to compete abroad.
– If you want to collect points for value competitions, you must be able to have the resources to acquire points from places other than Finland. At least you know that in Finland you don’t really need to collect games.
The wishes of the athletes have been heard
Together with Töykä, Lehtinen is also building the entire race series. Töykkä says that the race organizers play a big role in choosing the sports program. The organizing clubs want the toughest athletes in their region to be there.
The popularity of the species also has an effect. In Finland, this kind of sport has always been men’s javelin, and in recent years, for example, women’s hurdles. In next summer’s GP series, the men’s and women’s javelin will be on the program three times. Both speed fences are involved in no less than four GP races.
One big part of the puzzle is also the international competition calendar. For example, at the time of the GP games in Jyväskylä, there may be a Diamond League competition with, for example, a women’s pole.
Töykkä says that in such a case it does not make sense to include the sport in question in the GP race.
According to Töykä, the wishes of the athletes have been heard when preparing the competition calendar. The representatives of the Yeuliurheilijat ry have been vocal in the meetings.
Töykkä says that building one sport on one attractive athlete is always a risk. Such sports are good, with several tough and interesting athletes. In recent years, such a sport has been women’s speed fences.
– It was certain that there would be a good competition, even if not all the best were there, Töykkä says.