Wilma Murto was thrilled by the thought of breaking Jelena Isinbajeva’s competition record. According to coach Jarno Koivunen, a few worse points in the competition put a foot on the line.
Wilma Murto achieved Finnish athletics history on Saturday. With the gold medal at the EC Indoor Championships in Istanbul, the pole vaulter is the first Finn ever to win EC gold on both indoor and outdoor tracks.
Murto exceeded the height of 480 for the second time in his career. He said that he changed to a stiffer rope for the last jumps.
– That’s why I dared to increase to 491 for the last jumps. I’m really looking forward to the next attempts with such numbers, Murto stated to Urheilu.
Coach Jarno Koivunen praised his protégé’s performance and timely solutions in a competitive situation.
– It was expected that if he succeeds, winning is possible. This is such a tricky sport that there is a good chance of failure. He cleared even the difficult places nicely and changed the wings at the appropriate intervals, Koivunen said.
After securing the European championship, Murto made a tough decision. He decided to try to break Yelena Isinbayeva 490 of the European Indoor Championships competition record.
– It blew my mind that it is Isinbajeva’s record, which I can break, if I had been able to break the competition record.
This time it wasn’t time for such a wild result.
Wilma Murto crossed her first three heights on the first attempt. He dropped 475 twice before succeeding, but 480 was cleared again on the first attempt.
– Feels good. I wasn’t quite so sure when I entered the race, but as the race progressed I started to find my own sense of value competition. I’m really glad it wasn’t a one race gimmick and I was able to stretch today. With basic confidence and a good performance, you can apparently reach 480, Murto said.
Murto also revealed to Urheilu what coach Koivunen stated after the championship was decided.
– He said “like that”, Murto said and burst out laughing.
According to Koivunen, he also commented on last year’s EC win in Munich in the same way.
– It became a habit for us. When he came from Munich, I commented on that victory by saying “nuin”, Koivunen threw.
– It has become a stupid saying and I used the same one when I couldn’t think of anything else.
Koivunen describes that Saturday’s EC final contained many different situations.
– The whole race went pretty well, but there were a few bad points that made me feel a bit tired, Koivunen said.