Arvi Savolainen, who underwent heart surgery in the autumn, will leave for the weekend’s European Championship pressures with a medal in mind. Savolainen does not want to know the name of his opponent yet, even though the match schedules have been shared.
Wrestler Arvi Savolainen23, will start chasing the championship at the European Championships in Budapest on Saturday.
Savolainen, who competes in the 97-kilo series of Greco-Roman wrestlers, has a good chance of even winning gold: the three European wrestlers ahead of the Finns are not in the Tokyo Olympics. In Tokyo, Savolainen lost the bronze match.
– There are no plans to lose any matches. It is planned to go home with the medal. There are no opponents that should go into a match as an underdog. There is no idea in the wind that gold could come, Savolainen tells Urheilu.
– If the resistance is unpleasant, then not many nights will go to the jokes.
The opponent of Savol’s opening is Azerbaijan Murat Lokiajev.
Savolainen tries to avoid the match diagram. In this, the wrestler tries to avoid the so-called what if situations.
– Sometimes when I browse Facebook, there are charts shared. So sometimes I have to move my finger faster on the phone screen so that the eye does not have time to focus on the image.
– But that race won’t be ruined if the opponent’s name is known.
“One stressor out of your mind”
A heart operation was performed on a resident of Savola at the end of last year. Savo had to be taken to the hospital for exercises due to arrhythmias.
– It’s been well received. The operation was lighter than originally thought. At some point in the fall, it was unclear how this would make it to the European Championships.
Savolainen says that the arrhythmias hampered the training in the autumn.
– It’s nice when training is no longer missed due to a hospital trip. Now there is one stress factor out of your mind. Now there are no more arrhythmias.
Savolainen claims to be on the verge of the European Championships.
– Preparations went well. I have been able to prepare healthy.
Jani Haapamäki has won the previous Finnish men’s wrestling European Championship gold in 2009.
Timetables for the Savo series
Saturday
12: 30-16: Rounds 1 and 2
Saturday
18.15-18.45 (semifinal)
Sunday
19.45–20.15 (medal match)