Järkälemäin heavyweight wrestler Konsta Mäenpää steps in a new position for Molski on Monday at the World Championships in Belgrade. The man from Ilmajoki achieved a rare feat in the history of Finnish wrestling in the spring.
Budapest, Hungary, April 1, 2022. The EC wrestling competitions will start next to the Ferenc Puskas stadium for the heavyweight category. Konsta Mäenpää arrives at the games without any expectations.
In Budapest, a very easy-going man jumps on the scale, whose eyes, however, are confused by the reading of the scale: 130.1 kilos. It’s not an April Fool’s joke and for the first time ever, Mäenpää has to, or in this case gets to sweat out the extra 100 grams from his body.
– I was refueling like crazy at the time, so that’s why the increase in weight was a bit of a surprise. But it felt good. We had tried to raise the mass for so many years in the most sensible way, Mäenpää recalls.
Self-confidence rises wildly and Mäenpää wrestles the competition of his life. Seppo Yli-Hannuskelan ghesartti grabs EC bronze, which is Finland’s first heavyweight competition medal Juha Ahokkan after days, for almost 20 years.
– Even though success came out of the blue for me, we haven’t changed anything. Lifting weights, gathering muscle mass and maintaining agility are tried to be combined with progressive training of the cat. Now I’ve already had to watch my eating a little too. When after the European Championships we had a little barbecue and enjoyed life anyway, my friend’s scale at home showed 134 kilos.
Fierce opposition at the World Championships
Belgrade, Serbia, September 9, 2022. The Finnish star is looking forward to his future World Championship partner, because especially in the heavyweight division, the world level is increasing compared to Europe.
In principle, there will be two men from Cuba, the Iranian is always considered the favorite to win, and besides that, strong wrestlers will come mostly from Asia. Mäenpää will be released on Monday.
The other “Cuban” of the World Cup rinks is a man familiar to Mäenpää from this summer, as he defected to the Chilean national team Yasmani Acosta Fernandez fell in the hands of the Finn with a score of 3–1. The scalp was tasty because Fernandez is the Fifth of the Tokyo Olympics and the 2017 World Cup bronze medalist.
– At this point, measuring the absolute level is the most important. The summer has gone well, although in the second competition I was probably the worst wrestler of the games. The power levels have increased and the wrestling has become tougher, no matter what happened on the mat. Concretely, the change can be seen in vertical wrestling, where I take more forward steps than anyone else.
– Well, let’s take that back right away. If it comes from there Mijain Lopez, then I will definitely not walk forward. Fortunately, the World Championships seem to be too small for the four-time Olympic champion, and I don’t think he will get there, laughs Mäenpää.
Lipasti starts on Saturday
Arvi Savolainen after being injured, only a two-man team leaves Finland for the World Cup pressure of the Greco-Roman side in Belgrade.
Matias Lipasti participates in the 72-kilogram category. He wrestled for five years in the 77 kg division and plans to win medals at the Paris Olympics 10 kg lighter. The man from Ilmajoki Kisailaijde starts his job on Saturday.
– Matias has wrestled a very good summer in this intermediate series. He has been in the top three in every race. We will have a tight race to see who is the best air jockey at the World Championships, Mäenpää grins.
Vesa-Matti Savinen
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