Karjalainen Breaks Historic World Junior
Hammer Record!
Courtesy of Chris Turner
5 August 1999 – Seinajoki, Finalnd - 1998 World Junior Champion Olli-Pekka Karjalainen set a new World Junior record in the men's hammer on the first day of the Finnish championships in Seinajoki, and in doing so removed the 21 year old mark of East German Roland Steuk (78.14m 30th June 1978).
Karjalainen who threw 74.82m in this morning's qualification round behind Marko Wahlman's 75.05m, went straight to work in this afternoon's final and put together a very impressive series with his 78.33m world junior record coming in the final round. What a final round it was too with Marko Wahlman also throwing 78.16 metres!
Hammer Throw Result
1. Olli-Pekka Karjalainen 78.33m
(75.12; 76.70; 77.32; 74.15; 77.68; 78.33)
2. Marko Wahlman 78.16m
(76.19; 77.23; 74.10; 76.77; 76.90; 78.16)
3. Mikko Dannback 71.62m
Karjalainen is also an accomplished cello player and still plays for relaxation. Noted at the World Junior Championships in Annecy last year, he was the only thrower to surpass the 70 metre barrier. His winning distance of 72.40m surpassed the previous Championship best of 72.00m set in the 1986 inaugural championships by Russia’s Vitaliy Alisevich.
