Helsinki Olympic Stadium on August 14, 2005. Paula Tarvainen (born Huhtaniemi) throws 62.64 in the opening round of the women’s javelin in the World Cup final, which eventually takes sixth place.
After this, no Finnish female javelin thrower has reached the points in the prestigious competitions, i.e. in the top eight, let alone been able to break the 60-meter mark in the finals. In the years 2006–2022, six Finnish performances have been seen in the prize competition finals, the average of which has been less than 55.9 meters. When the results made in the qualifiers, 19 pieces, are included, the Finns have thrown an average of 56.5 meters.
56.5 meters is also a level reading, when the Finnish javelin woman earns a certain number of points for the club she represents. The next level is 60 meters, where this season the Turku Sports Association threw a record of 60.18 Sanne Erkkola.
In recent years, the 60-meter limit has been strict in Finland. The last time two Finns were in the 60s club in the same season was in the summer of 2016, before that in 2007.
Women have been throwing with the current javelin model since 1999. At their best, in 2000, four Finnish women could exceed 60 meters. Although the level of top throwers was wide in 2000, there were only two throwers over 56.5 meters in addition to these four.
Despite that, in 2020 Heidi Nokelainen was the only Finn to throw over 60 meters, the level behind him was exceptionally wide: 56.5 meters and a total of seven Finns reached it. Last year, no Finnish woman was able to cross the 60-meter mark, but as a positive signal, the then 18-year-old Anni-Linnea Alanen threw 59.52. The result is a Finnish record for both under-19 and 22-year-olds.
In the years 1983–2002, the women’s javelin throw was a medal trap for the Finnish teams: Olympic, World Championship and European Championship gold, as well as five lesser medals. From the number of throwers over 56.5 meters, one could quickly conclude that the sport would have a rosy future outlook domestically. However, the matter is not so clear.
Kindness is enough up to a certain point
Javelin throw coach Petteri Piironen known as someone who is not afraid to speak his mind.
– It can be seen as a positive that at the national level there is more mass on that meter than before. On the other hand, the question is, what then? However, the results are 55 meters, plus or minus a meter or two in each direction. It is national level sportsmanship. It is a few meters away from that to the level at which one can participate in an international competition at all, says Piironen.
Piironen estimates that the number of throwers at the national level has primarily been influenced by the vigorous girls’ project launched by the Sports Association ten years ago, which brought a lot of new enthusiasts to athletics. This is where the javelin played its part.
According to Piironen, Finnish young top throwers have the prerequisite to throw far when it comes to the throwing arm, but the problems in rising to the international level are related to overall performance – or more precisely, the lack of it.
– When throwing a javelin 50–55 meters, a naturally good throwing hand is enough. It doesn’t necessarily need any technical skills or physical characteristics. Then when you want to international level and regularly over 60 meters, performance starts to play a big role. Javelin throwing is a high-performance sport – women’s javelin in particular – that requires good mobility. As for the legs, you need good power output and explosive power output.
– The upper body, throwing hand and others would be enough to throw more than 60 meters, but the use and function of the legs has not developed enough to enable regular throwing more than 60 meters. Is it about coaching skills or the athletes’ strong enough commitment to training aimed at the top? Piironen ponders.
The difference can already be seen in the test results
Piironen opens up the challenges of domestic top throwers in general on a numerical level, but emphasizes that power output is the key word, not maximum power. The most important thing is the continuum of general strength and specific strength.
Piironen illustrates the differences with a Pole who is one of the world’s top throwers with Maria Andrejczyk, whose record throw of 71.40 in 2021 is enough for third place in the all-time statistics. Andrejczyk, who threw Olympic silver last year, has suffered from injuries this season, but there is hard data about the Pole who spent time at the Kuortane sports college.
– In the light jump, Finns reach 35–40 centimeters, while Andrejczyk’s record is 47 centimeters, Piironen says.
Exercises that last less than 200 milliseconds are counted as performance of sport-specific power production, because throwing performance takes 120–140 milliseconds for women.
– For example, in a drop jump from a height of 20 centimeters, the goal is that the contact with the ground should be less than 200 milliseconds and then you should reach as high as possible. For women, the RSI index (reactive strength index), i.e. the flight time divided by the climb height, should be in the 3.5–4 range. For the Finns, it runs on both sides of the triple, while for Andrejczyk, it is 3.8.
– Throwing a ball over the head to the back reflects the action of the whole body’s movement chain. In it, Maria throws a three-kilo ball 21 meters, while the Finns reach 16–18 meters, Piironen says.
Throwing balls forward over the head, on the other hand, tells about the natural throwing ability, mobility and elasticity of the upper body.
– Maria throws a kilo ball about 26 meters and a two kilo ball 21-22 meters. The Finns move with a kilo ball in 20–22 meters. Finnish youngsters have quite reasonable results in the overhead shot put, but development to the international level comes from legs, power output and the ability to move, says Piironen.
Is your own interest enough?
Piironen says that he is particularly concerned about young people’s ability to understand their performance. According to him, male throwers are significantly more interested in their own test results and their development than women.
The matter especially concerns young people, because the most significant development phase of the species’ characteristics takes place on both sides of the age of 20. The further an athlete’s career progresses, the emphasis in training shifts to maintaining the performance level achieved at a young age, while body care and recovery factors take on a greater role than before.
– An athlete who is interested in his own performance knows very precisely his test results with all metrics. Today, if you ask about an athlete’s record in a certain exercise at the camp, the athlete might answer ooooh, I don’t know. These things should come off the drugstore shelf. Is it because of the athletes or their coaches or what? And can it be invisible in training? That worries me, Piironen says and underlines:
– Many women’s qualities are still at such a modest level that advancing them does not require the most astronomical coaching skills. With fairly simple basic training, it is possible to advance the qualities in a versatile way, as long as the work is done.
Average values in less than 55 meters
In the current season, Sanne Erkkola has been the only Finn to throw 60 meters. In addition to him only Julia Valtanen (57.10) and Anni-Linnea Alanen (57.09) have reached over 56.5.
However, the average of Erkkola’s 11 races is only 54.38, and he has not been able to exceed 56 meters in any other than his best race of the season.
Erkkola and belonging to the national top Jatta-Mari from Jääskelää coaching ex-pitcher Tuomas Laaksonen does not fully endorse Piironen’s criticism aimed at the athletes and their coaches.
– Helping athletes is a joint task of personal coaches and sports coaching. The results cannot be blamed only on the athletes, but everyone has a place to look in the mirror, says Laaksonen.
The summer of 2022 was special for the 28-year-old Erkkola, as he claimed his place in both the World Cup and the European Championships through the ranking. Both resulted in qualification, with throws of 52 and 54 meters. However, Laaksonen sees the year as a significant step forward in the big picture.
– Sanne is a 28-year-old athlete who has never even been in a prestigious youth competition. In two years, the goal is to throw as far as possible in the Olympics. Against that background, at this stage, every opportunity must be used, so as not to end up digging your nose in Paris, says Laaksonen.
The summer as a whole was a study trip for many Finnish track and field athletes who, in the hope of a place in the prestigious competition, traveled abroad to collect important ranking points.
After throwing his record in the ranking competition in Oulu, Erkkola immediately headed to compete in Oslo, from where he returned to the spear carnival in Pihtiputa. Laaksonen admits that the three races in one week with the traveling did not serve the season as a whole.
– In hindsight, visiting Oslo didn’t make sense. Certainly, the whole of the summer would have been easier to manage if the spring had gone as planned, Laaksonen says and refers to the stomach disease that ruined the spring camp in the south.
A bigger role in women’s coaching?
Laaksonen says that the Sports Federation has expressed his interest in a bigger role in women’s coaching. At the moment, Laaksonen’s salary is paid by SUL, the Turku Sports Association and the sports academy, as well as personal coaches, including Erkkola, Jääskeläinen and future promises Vivian Suominen.
– I am not jumping into the shoes of any sports coach, but it is planned that I could take a role in promoting the women’s side, Laaksonen says.
– Yes, it must be admitted that this year was worrying. For the first time, we clearly came down more than we went up. We have to focus on what our young people really need and how they can be helped. I don’t think that questioning and doubting is the right way, but rather we have to teach and help them to make their everyday life better. In this case, the athletes themselves buy the things we are talking about.
Laaksonen hopes that the active throwers of the past years will join the new generation of lifting bars. Olympic champion Heli Rantanen was coached by Heidi Nokelais in 2018, but the collaboration lasted for one season.
– The challenge for women is that there aren’t international stars from recent years in the country in the same way as for men. I am personally interested in organizing camps so that top international throwers are present. Abroad and at home. It would be important for our talents to see with their own eyes, where the best go and how they do things.
– However, everyday life must be in order. If this is not the case, nothing will be done in those 4–5 camps. That’s why I’m interested in getting to know the operating environment of each of our athletes, says Laaksonen.
The women’s javelin is scheduled for the Sweden match today, Saturday at 20:45. will show the Sweden match live on TV2, Areena and the app.