The finals of the Athletics Diamond League will be contested this weekend at last year’s World Championship stage in Eugene, USA. With the points collected from the season’s competitions, the six best athletes of their respective sports have secured their place in the finals of the field sports. The competition is probably the last competition of the season for many athletes.
Finnish representatives will compete on Saturday. See you in the women’s pole vault final Wilma Murto and in the men’s javelin Oliver Helander.
Athletics specialist at Urheilu Jaakko Ojaniemi believes that the big prize money brings a positive charge to the finals. He also estimates that both Finns have a good chance of making it to the top three.
Finals
1st place: USD 30,000 (approx. EUR 28,000)
2nd place: $12,000 (approx. €11,200)
3rd place: $7,000 (approx. €6,500)
4th place: $4,000 (approx. €3,700)
5th place: $2,500 (approx. €2,300)
6th place: $2,000 (approx. €1,800)
Competitions
1st place: $10,000 (€9,300)
2nd place: $6,000 (approx. €5,600)
3rd place: $3,500 (approx. €3,200)
4th place: $2,000 (approx. €1,800)
5th place: $1,250 (approx. €1,100)
6th place: $1,000 (approx. €900)
Source: Diamond League website.
Big prize money up for grabs
Big prize money is available in the Diamond League finals. The winner gets around 28,000 euros, the runner-up also gets a good dividend with a pot of around 11,200 euros. Those amounts of money can be directly compared to the prize money received from the competitions, when you get about 9,300 euros from winning the competition.
Expert Ojaniemi says that the prize money is not decisive for Helander’s or Murro’s sports careers, but the winnings would certainly be a welcome addition for both.
– However, athletes have a rather short time window when they can make results and collect prize money.
Ojaniemi estimates that the prize money is significant, because such large prize money is hardly seen anywhere else but in World Cup competitions.
– The amount drops from first place to second place quite a lot. The profit is large in relation to other prize places. A lot of effort has been placed on the victory, and it is probably aimed at everyone fighting for the victory until the end.
Nina Kennedy is in shock for the rest of the season
Ojaniemi describes the women’s pole vault final as very tight. The World Championship bronze came with Murro’s season-best 480. At the end of August, he was without a result in the Diamond League Zurich competition in Switzerland. In the match against Sweden at the beginning of September, Murto won by crossing a height of 465.
Ojaniemi states that on a reasonably good day, Murto can exceed a height of 475 or 480. Getting higher than that requires greater success.
– He can exceed even 490, but it requires that the mood is right and the technique works. He has certainly been able to prepare for the final in peace, but the stress of the time difference can partly affect the level of results, Ojaniemi estimates.
Competing with Murro are, among others, the United States Katie Moon and Australia Nina Kennedy, who shared the WC gold medal in August. Before the World Cup final, Kennedy’s season best was 477. At the World Cup, he surpassed the height of 490, and just a week later, Kennedy won in Switzerland with his hall record of 491.
– He has been in a really strong mood, and he seems to have gained more confidence from the World Cup. I consider him the pre-favorite for the final.
World Championship gold medalist Katie Moon is also firmly in the fight for victory. In the Svets race, he was second, crossing 481.
Ojaniemi reminds that the Slovenian Tina Sutej surpasses the height of 475 in almost every competition. According to the expert, also the US Sandy Morris has been on the rise since the end of the season.
Helander has a place in the top three
Ojaniemi says Oliver Helander has a place in the top three in the men’s javelin final. In the World Championships, Helander was seventh with a result of 83.38. In the Swiss Diamond League, he was fourth when the javelin curved to 83.65 meters.
– I would think that Helander needs to throw well over 85 meters in order for him to reach the top two.
Helander did not compete in the Sweden match due to health reasons. Ojaniemi believes that the minor troubles are probably fine now.
– He can go into the race with a fairly relaxed mind, because getting into the top three doesn’t require any ghost throws.
Helander’s toughest competitors are the summer gold medalist India Neeraj Chopra and the Czech Republic, which won bronze Jakub Vadlejch.
Chopra won the WC gold with a score of 88.17. In Switzerland, he was second with a throw of 85.71 meters. Vadlejch took the WC bronze with a result of 86.67. In Switzerland, he overcame Chopra with an 85.86-meter arc.
– Chopra is certainly the strongest thrower on the entire planet at the moment. Almost every time he comes to the line, the javelin flies over 87 meters.
– Grenada Anderson Peters and the United States Curtin Thompson haven’t been in good shape for a while. Moldovan Adrian Mardare is such a good 80-meter thrower, Ojaniemi estimates.
The men’s javelin final starts on Saturday 16 September. at 22:20 Finnish time. The women’s pole vault final is on the same day and starts at 22:26 Finnish time.