From Finland’s rowing trio, Santeri Kuusiniemi continued, Elmo Lakka and Ilari Manninen ran sluggishly. In the men’s walk, Aleksi Ojala threw up and finished 11th, while Elisa Neuvonen fought for 10th.
16.8.•Updated 16.8.
The European Athletics Championships in Munich continued on Tuesday during the day period, when the program included the heats of the men’s 110-meter hurdles. Three Finns participated in them: the Jyväskylä Field Athletes trio Elmo Lakka, Ilari Manninen and Santeri Kuusiniemi.
The last time something similar was seen at the 2006 European Championships in Gothenburg, when they were involved Juha Sonck, Olli Talsi and Marko Ritola.
The goals and expectations were that the Finn would also be seen in the semifinals, even in the finals, but the name of the runner-up was a huge surprise.
Santeri Kuusiniemi23, ran a brilliant run for his level in his heat and rushed to the finish line in third place with a time of 13.89.
Kuusiniemi started his heat in sixth place in the statistics. His record is 13.68 run in Belgium this summer.
The award competition debutante was overjoyed in an interview with after the first round.
– I can’t describe it properly. Crazy!
– I saw at the finish line that maybe I could be among the four. But it’s incredible, the third one, I don’t know what to say, really jeez, absolutely incredible jeez.
Kuusiniemi says that he wasn’t terribly nervous in his value competition debut, because he felt that he was a challenger with nothing to lose. Even a hard hit to the first fence didn’t seem too much.
Kuusiniemi praised Jyväskylä’s training atmosphere. He also trains with Ilari Manninen, who also ran in the European Championships, and Elmo Lakka is also there from time to time.
– with Ilar (Antti) Meron working out in a group is a gift. It has turned the career into a whole new upswing. Only a few years ago, when I joined Mero’s group, I became a hurdler, before that I ran flat.
In the video that is the main picture of the story, you can watch Kuusiniemi’s heat run. In the video below, Kuusiniemi’s interview after the game.
Instead, Elmo Lakka, 29, missed the preliminary rounds. He was sixth in his heat with a time of 13.78, while the best four of the heat advanced to the next round.
In the same heat, Norway finished fifth Vladimir Vukicevic was the only one who reached the semi-finals thanks to the time comparison, with a time of 13.75.
The performance was a big disappointment for Laka. He started his round as second in statistics. Laka, who ran 13.31 in SE of the high-speed fences last summer, has had a rough season anyway. At no point has he come close to his level of last season. At the World Championships in Oregon, he missed the preliminaries with a time of 13.91.
– The start was pretty clean, and I was in the front. There was no hustle and bustle, which is the best, Lakka stated according to STT.
Lakan’s best 13.55 of the season so far was already in May in Jyväskylä.
– In May, it was plus 11 degrees. Now, three months later, I’m two tenths slower. I feel good in training, and I can get close to the records there, Lakka wondered.
The career is continuing even after the season, Lakka confirmed at STT.
– The slipper hasn’t moved this season, but you shouldn’t put your shoes on the coat rack.
Finland’s third competitor Ilari Manninen also qualified. He ran a modest time of 14.08 in the first heat.
– Clean and relaxed draw, but slow. It’s a dull feeling. As soon as you confirm, this is how it goes. I didn’t crash and it felt good, but I was surprised how slow I was. Feeling quite heavy when it’s early in the morning, Manninen summed up.
Aleksi Ojala was far from his great World Cup performance
Nathalie Blomqvist was third last, 12th, in the second heat of the women’s 1,500 meters with a time of 4:14.90.
Blomqvist’s strength was not enough in the last lap, who started at a fast pace, and he fell just over four seconds away from his record. A ten second faster time would have been required for the final.
You can watch Blomqvist’s interview below.
Spain dominated the competition from the beginning Miguel Angel Lopez won the men’s 35 km walk. The Spaniard, who mastered the very hot conditions, walked in a time of 2:26.49. Earlier, Lopez had won the World Championship and European Championship gold in 20 kilometers.
A German crowd favorite, Christopher Linke took silver, the first race medal of his career with a time of 2:29.30. Italian Matteo Giupponi was third with a time of 2:30,34.
Finland Aleksi Ojala fought to finish in 12th place with a time of 2:39.06. Ojala, who suffered from hamstring problems even before the European Championships, had to throw up on the way when the fluids were not absorbed. He was more than 12 minutes behind the winner.
At the World Championships, Ojala was handsomely 13th with a SE time of 2:28.22, which he is now about 11 minutes behind. Ojala commented after the race that the recovery from the World Championships was not exciting, but the condition of the backs was.
Greece won the women’s race Antigone Ntrismpioti at 2:47.00. Spanish Raquel Gonzales was second with a time of 2:49.10. Hungary, who led the race at the beginning Viktoria Madarasz crossed the finish line in third place in 2:49.58.
Elisa Neuvonen finished tenth with a final time of 2:59.00. The race was a great fight for Neuvos, as he missed his record by just over a minute. Neuvonen was a good 12 minutes behind the winner.