Teemu Wirkkala throwing 87.23m in Joensuu (© Paula Noronen)
Espoo, FinlandThe 2009 Finnish Championships held in Leppävaara, Espoo, featured several promising results for Finnish athletics. Although the Finnish World Championships team will be rather small, it’s a competitive one. The weather was the only thing which didn’t go well as Sunday was coolish and rainy with the most important competition of all, the men’s Javelin Throw final.
Despite torrential rains, three throw beyond 84m
But Finnish javelin throwers are better than ever this season. Even the rain did not ruin the final as Teemu Wirkkala, already with an 87.23m personal best from a couple of weeks ago, started with a huge 84.34m throw in the pouring rain. The conditions at the start of the competition were really hard but it didn’t seem to matter for the best throwers. Reigning World champion Tero Pitkämäki almost overtook Wirkkala as the last thrower of first round with an 84.28m effort. In round two Wirkkala further improved to 84.95m and Antti Ruuskanen improved to 84.64m to move into second. Pitkämäki stopped his competition following an 83.41m second round effort, injuring himself a bit during that throw.
There wasn’t any more movement at the top although the rain wasn’t as hard as at the start, but Wirkkala continued to be impressive. The 25-year-old who was fifth at the Olympics last season, fouled his third throw, well over 82m and then finished his competition with 84.71m, 83.96m and finally his best 85.84m in the last round.
Wirkkala’s performance here easily make him a medal candidate in Berlin and five rainy throws at 83.96m or better suggest his maximum distance is much further. Antti Ruuskanen booked his place on the World Champs team with an 84.64m second place and Pitkämäki was third with an 84.28m result. Ari Mannio was fourth 81.54m and Jarkko Koski-Vähälä fifth with 80.22m. Tero Järvenpää, who was fourth at the Olympics last season, was a distant eighth with 78.26m and although he was chosen to the Berlin team earlier he has not proved his condition lately. Järvenpää, the Finnish champion last year, was close to proving his point with a marginal foul of 85m in round three, but he slightly fell over the line during that throw.
Esko Mikkola was fifth 79.90m and Lassi Etelätalo (78.27m) and Viljo Toivanen’s did not even make it to the last three rounds with a 77.00m throw in a high standard final despite the rain.
Another ’09 PB for Keskisalo
In one of the most awaited finals of the champs Jukka Keskisalo, the European Steeplechase champion, dipped under the magical 3:40 limit in the 1500m for the first time. Keskisalo continued his promising running winning clearly in 3:39.65, bettering his earlier best of 3:42.10 which also won the Finnish Champs in 2003. Keskisalo was most happy for bettering his coach’s (Risto Ulmala) personal best in the event. Ulmala, who was mostly a 5000/10,000m runner, set his best of 3:41.66 in 1991. But Ulmala is still faster than Keskisalo in the 3000/5000m.
In the men’s Long Jump Tommi Evilä, the bronze medallist at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki, finally found his form. Evilä, who had jumped only 8.03m this season jumped a wind aided 7.99m in round one before unleashing an 8.19m season’s best in legal conditions in round two. Evilä further continued with an 8.10m in round four, passing he third and fifth round before a big foul in round six. Evilä’s 8.19m winning result makes him a real contender for the World Championships final this time around too.
In other events Olli-Pekka Karjalainen won his unprecedented 12th straight hammer title with a 77.76m winning throw in round one. Karjalainen, still only 29 years old, has not reached his best results in the past few years, but has still managed to throw well in major championships. The 2006 European Championships silver medallist was fourth in the Beijing Olympics last year and is a favourite for a top six finish in Berlin as well.
In the men’s discus final Mikko Kyyrö surprised Frantz Kruger and won with a 61.25m throw coming in round five. Kruger’s response came in the last round but it fell just short of Kyyrö landing at 61.22m for second place.
The women’s events don’t offer nearly as much as the men’s in Finland at the moment. Karin Storbacka was one of the brighter parts of the champs winning an impressive 400/800m double in 53.87 (PB) and 2:05.11 respectively. Annemari Sandell-Hyvärinen was another double champ with 16:11.61 winning time in 5000m and 33:44.16 in the 10,000m. In the 3000m Steeplechase Johanna Lehtinen made a comeback after injuries but still 20-year-old Sandra Eriksson grabbed already her third straight national title in 10:06.83 before Lehtinen’s 10:13.70.
Hanna Grobler won the High Jump with a 1.87m leap while the Pole Vault didn’t offer much in the rain with Minna Nikkanen returning to the top of the podium with a 4.15m clearance. Mikaela Ingberg topped the javelin with a 57.87m winning throw.
Mirko Jalava for the IAAF
Click here for FULL RESULTS
The Finnish team for the 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Berlin, Germany (15 – 23 August):
Men -
400m hurdles: Jussi Heikkilä
3000m steeplechase: Jukka Keskisalo
High jump: Oskari Frösén
Pole vault: Eemeli Salomäki
Long jump: Tommi Evilä
Discus: Frantz Kruger
Hammer: Olli-Pekka Karjalainen, David Söderberg
Javelin: Tero Järvenpää, Tero Pitkämäki, Antti Ruuskanen, Teemu Wirkkala
(reserve: Ari Mannio)
50km walk: Jarkko Kinnunen
Women -
3000m steeple: Sandra Eriksson
High jump: Hanna Grobler
Pole vault: Minna Nikkanen, Vanessa Vandy
Hammer: Merja Korpela
Javelin: Mikaela Ingberg
Despite torrential rains, three throw beyond 84m
But Finnish javelin throwers are better than ever this season. Even the rain did not ruin the final as Teemu Wirkkala, already with an 87.23m personal best from a couple of weeks ago, started with a huge 84.34m throw in the pouring rain. The conditions at the start of the competition were really hard but it didn’t seem to matter for the best throwers. Reigning World champion Tero Pitkämäki almost overtook Wirkkala as the last thrower of first round with an 84.28m effort. In round two Wirkkala further improved to 84.95m and Antti Ruuskanen improved to 84.64m to move into second. Pitkämäki stopped his competition following an 83.41m second round effort, injuring himself a bit during that throw.
There wasn’t any more movement at the top although the rain wasn’t as hard as at the start, but Wirkkala continued to be impressive. The 25-year-old who was fifth at the Olympics last season, fouled his third throw, well over 82m and then finished his competition with 84.71m, 83.96m and finally his best 85.84m in the last round.
Wirkkala’s performance here easily make him a medal candidate in Berlin and five rainy throws at 83.96m or better suggest his maximum distance is much further. Antti Ruuskanen booked his place on the World Champs team with an 84.64m second place and Pitkämäki was third with an 84.28m result. Ari Mannio was fourth 81.54m and Jarkko Koski-Vähälä fifth with 80.22m. Tero Järvenpää, who was fourth at the Olympics last season, was a distant eighth with 78.26m and although he was chosen to the Berlin team earlier he has not proved his condition lately. Järvenpää, the Finnish champion last year, was close to proving his point with a marginal foul of 85m in round three, but he slightly fell over the line during that throw.
Esko Mikkola was fifth 79.90m and Lassi Etelätalo (78.27m) and Viljo Toivanen’s did not even make it to the last three rounds with a 77.00m throw in a high standard final despite the rain.
Another ’09 PB for Keskisalo
In one of the most awaited finals of the champs Jukka Keskisalo, the European Steeplechase champion, dipped under the magical 3:40 limit in the 1500m for the first time. Keskisalo continued his promising running winning clearly in 3:39.65, bettering his earlier best of 3:42.10 which also won the Finnish Champs in 2003. Keskisalo was most happy for bettering his coach’s (Risto Ulmala) personal best in the event. Ulmala, who was mostly a 5000/10,000m runner, set his best of 3:41.66 in 1991. But Ulmala is still faster than Keskisalo in the 3000/5000m.
In the men’s Long Jump Tommi Evilä, the bronze medallist at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki, finally found his form. Evilä, who had jumped only 8.03m this season jumped a wind aided 7.99m in round one before unleashing an 8.19m season’s best in legal conditions in round two. Evilä further continued with an 8.10m in round four, passing he third and fifth round before a big foul in round six. Evilä’s 8.19m winning result makes him a real contender for the World Championships final this time around too.
In other events Olli-Pekka Karjalainen won his unprecedented 12th straight hammer title with a 77.76m winning throw in round one. Karjalainen, still only 29 years old, has not reached his best results in the past few years, but has still managed to throw well in major championships. The 2006 European Championships silver medallist was fourth in the Beijing Olympics last year and is a favourite for a top six finish in Berlin as well.
In the men’s discus final Mikko Kyyrö surprised Frantz Kruger and won with a 61.25m throw coming in round five. Kruger’s response came in the last round but it fell just short of Kyyrö landing at 61.22m for second place.
The women’s events don’t offer nearly as much as the men’s in Finland at the moment. Karin Storbacka was one of the brighter parts of the champs winning an impressive 400/800m double in 53.87 (PB) and 2:05.11 respectively. Annemari Sandell-Hyvärinen was another double champ with 16:11.61 winning time in 5000m and 33:44.16 in the 10,000m. In the 3000m Steeplechase Johanna Lehtinen made a comeback after injuries but still 20-year-old Sandra Eriksson grabbed already her third straight national title in 10:06.83 before Lehtinen’s 10:13.70.
Hanna Grobler won the High Jump with a 1.87m leap while the Pole Vault didn’t offer much in the rain with Minna Nikkanen returning to the top of the podium with a 4.15m clearance. Mikaela Ingberg topped the javelin with a 57.87m winning throw.
Mirko Jalava for the IAAF
Click here for FULL RESULTS
The Finnish team for the 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Berlin, Germany (15 – 23 August):
Men -
400m hurdles: Jussi Heikkilä
3000m steeplechase: Jukka Keskisalo
High jump: Oskari Frösén
Pole vault: Eemeli Salomäki
Long jump: Tommi Evilä
Discus: Frantz Kruger
Hammer: Olli-Pekka Karjalainen, David Söderberg
Javelin: Tero Järvenpää, Tero Pitkämäki, Antti Ruuskanen, Teemu Wirkkala
(reserve: Ari Mannio)
50km walk: Jarkko Kinnunen
Women -
3000m steeple: Sandra Eriksson
High jump: Hanna Grobler
Pole vault: Minna Nikkanen, Vanessa Vandy
Hammer: Merja Korpela
Javelin: Mikaela Ingberg
