About time I started a general Finnish results thread, considering that (sadly) very few of our meets merit threads of their own.
Hanna Grobler (née Mikkonen, now married to Gerbrandt the South African javelinist who for obvious reasons is not going to pull a Kruger and become a Finn...) high jumped 191 today, which may not be earth-shattering on an international scale but is only 1cm off (her own) NR and was a very pleasant surprise after all the injuries she's been through and the first time she reached such heights after '06.
Talking of Kruger, he's having heavy problems even breaking 60 now, mainly due to timing problems. This is hardly surprising since he had timing problems last year already and then used the winter to shake off some fat, thus messing his timing up further... Reportedly the physical abilities are still there but alas I fear he won't be a factor at Berlin.
(I should mention though that I'm not an optimal judge, not having seen him throwing in real life this year. I missed this year's Paavo Nurmi Games since the weather was way too hot for me and the only other event of any note was men's LJ, which Mokoena won with a 814 despite a heavy headwind. Tommi Evilä also finally returned to 8+ club after many disappointing early season meets.)
And talking of javelin guys, the Pihtipudas Javelin Carnival (where one guy is normally selected to our major team) is looming. They had the age group competitions yesterday; men U23 was good, with Kankaanpää at 80.23 PB and Etelätalo at 79.70 PB (85.70 guy Ari Mannio was absent). However U18 and younger boys aren't where they should be... In wU20, Sanni Utriainen (daughter of Esa) also PB'd at 53.61.
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Finnish news (Åstrand 20.72 NR)
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Finnish news (Åstrand 20.72 NR)
Last edited by LopenUupunut on Sun Feb 10, 2013 1:39 am, edited 45 times in total.
Re: Finnish results
Women's edition is finished. Mickle of Australia continued her good form this year with 61.83. Mikaela Ingberg ('95 WC bronze medalist) was second with 61.03, marking her millionth consecutive year at 60+... Will report on men's comp in a couple hours.
The stipulation was that the best of those not already selected for Finnish Berlin team (that is, Pitkämäki or Järvenpää) would grab a WC ticket if he broke 84m. Wirkkala did just that with his last throw, equalling (!) his recent PB, having until then been very close at 83.95. He has for some reason always been extremely good at Pihtipudas... Mannio continues to be rock-solid with another three 82+ efforts. He's currently favored for the 4th Berlin spot, though his main aim is the U23 Euro gold. Pitkämäki wasn't very convincing but still won. Järvenpää seems to be slowly returning to form after his winter floorball ankle injury.
1. Tero Pitkämäki 86.47 2. Teemu Wirkkala 84.68 =PB 3. Tero Järvenpää 82.65 4. Ari Mannio 82.47 5. Gerbrandt Grobler RSA 80.01 SB 6. Antti Ruuskanen 79.89 SB 7. Jarkko Koski-Vähälä 78.42 SB http://www.keihaskarnevaalit.com/index. ... 8&Itemid=2
Wirkkala's spot in the team has been made official. Other new inclusions are, on men's side, Evilä and Kruger (?! - well OK he may be out of shape but given his A standard from last year I can't really see him bumped off) and on women's side Grobler, Ingberg and hammer thrower Merja Korpela.
These were the athletes already in:
Quote from November. O-P Karjalainen did reportedly get a healthy winter and spring training but his season opener still wasn't very convincing. Keskisalo seems stronger than ahead of EC '06. Kirwa is unfortunately injured and has been scratched.
Lapua Elite Games were today, and wPV was the definite highlight...
1. Minna Nikkanen FIN 445 2. Tatyana Polnova RUS 445 3. Vanessa Vandy FIN 436 ...coming in, our NR was 435 by Nikkanen. Both Nikkanen and Vandy should be going to Berlin. Ari Mannio won men's javelin with 80.54, his worst mark of the year! Then again, all his other efforts were fouls (including a couple sector fouls). 20-year-old Sandra Eriksson PB'd in the steeplechase with 9.47 and change, just reaching the Berlin B standard, Krisztián Pars (HUN) won mHT with 79.53 (ahead of O-P Karjalainen at a national leader of 77.32), and Gloria Asumnu (USA) won w100m in a SB of 11.15 (+0.2).
That's good news. If I remember correctly, these two ladies are just out of the Junior age groups, so hopefully they will continue to progress and add a bit of spice to the top end of the vaulting realms.
Next comp of the Elite Games series took place at Lappeenranta today. Incredibly, there were actually quite a few international quality athletes present!
Some of the more interesting results: w100 - 1. Gloria Asumnu USA 11.07w (+2.3), 2. Yuliya Nestsiarenka BLR 11.36w w200 - 1. Gloria Asumnu USA 22.98 (-1.1) m800 - 1. Mohammed al-Salhi KSA 1.45.32 mLJ - 1. Khotso Mokoena RSA 824w (814 legal), 2. Tommi Evilä FIN 801 mHT - 1. Krisztián Pars HUN 80.53 mDT - 1. Aleksander Tammert EST 65.17w, 2. Frantz Kruger FIN 64.17w mJT: 1. Antti Ruuskanen FIN 80.63 2. Ari Mannio FIN 80.26 3. Harri Haatainen FIN 78.50 4. Sean Furey USA 78.48 5. Esko Mikkola FIN 77.20 6. Andrus Värnik EST 75.90 The first time this year Ruuskanen beat Mannio - notable since one of the two will almost certainly take our 4th Berlin spot, joining Pitkämäki, Järvenpää and Wirkkala. Mannio had his worst meet of the year and appears to have lost his best form. For some reason, Furey usually throws well in Finland... On the VNLF, Mannio now falls behind Janik.
78.64 SB for O-P Karjalainen yesterday
 His performances so far this year had been disappointing but now I'm hopeful again. With Pars no longer as dominating as early season (though he did look good at Lappeenranta) nobody really looks unbeatable in this event.
Fourth Elite Games meeting today at Joensuu. Some very good marks, especially in men's javelin which was thrown into a headwind!
mJT: 1. Teemu Wirkkala 87.23 PB 2. Antti Ruuskanen 85.03 SB Wirkkala is clearly in career peak form, though he "only" backed the big one up with two of his usual 82s. Ruuskanen as usual only got one good throw in (actually, mostly this year he hasn't got even that!) Nevertheless, he moves up all the way to 9th on the Very Nearly Live Formchart: 1. Andreas Thorkildsen (Norway) = 2. Tero Pitkämäki (Finland) = 3. Vadims Vasilevskis (Latvia) = 4. Teemu Wirkkala (Finland) = 5. Ainars Kovals (Latvia)= 6. Mark Frank (Germany) = 7. Ari Mannio (Finland) = 8. Igor Janik (Poland) = 9. Antti Ruuskanen (Finland) N 10. Oleksandr Pyatnytsya (Ukraine) -1 11. Guillermo Martínez (Cuba) -1 12. Petr Frydrych (Czech Rep) N mLJ: 1. Kim Deok-Hyeon KOR 817 (+1.7) 2. Tommi Evilä 800 With his last jump Kim certainly proved his victory (and 841w/820) at the University Games was no fluke. Evilä, sadly, doesn't look as good as in '05, or indeed the healthy parts of any of the years between. m3000: 1. Jukka Keskisalo 7.49.05 PB 2. Remmy Limo KEN 7.50.78 Another impressive PB for Keskisalo. In the post-race interview he gave the world some really good answers: Q: Your run was good but how did it feel? A: Quite painful, but that's the sport of running for you. Q: Your flat PB is now better than that of steeplechase NR holder Tapio Kantanen, what does that tell us? A: That you shouldn't compare flat times with steeple times. m100: 1. Lerone Clarke JAM 10.25 (-1.3) m110h: 1. Joel Brown USA 13.60 (-1.5) w100: 1. Sheri-Ann Brooks JAM 11.39 (-1.0) 2. Gloria Asumnu USA 11.40 w200: 1. Gloria Asumnu USA 22.88 (-0.5) wPV: 1. Minna Nikkanen 436 wLJ: 1. Brittney Reese USA 662 Last edited by LopenUupunut on Fri Jul 24, 2009 4:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
Keskikalo has surprised me this season.
Did he stay in Finland for his training or did he go to Brazil or some other place for warm weather training?. I remember Viren training in Brazil in 72 prior to the O.G
Ha - that is one clever interviewer.
No, that is one clever interviewee 
Full results here http://live.time4results.com/yu/2009/joensuu/
I don't know all the places he's been training but they include Columbia (where I believe Virén sometimes trained), Portugal (the preferred spring training location of the Finnish national team), and St. Moritz, Switzerland.
Oh for the life of a world class finish Athlete. Training camp in Columbia, Portugal and St. Moritz.
Last meet of the Elite Games series today at Lapinlahti. Plenty of good results.
mJT: 1. Tero Pitkämäki 87.79 SB 2. Antti Ruuskanen 81.74 3. Ari Mannio 80.81 Pitkämäki backed the best one up with a 86.92. The battle for our one remaining spot in the Berlin team heats up. Ruuskanen has beaten Mannio in two consecutive comps now. Unless one of them manages to make selectors angry the NC result should decide it. It's hard to judge the Russians, and Igor Janik has apparently vanished from Earth....? Anyway, Very Nearly Live Formchart today: 1. Andreas Thorkildsen (Norway) = 2. Tero Pitkämäki (Finland) = 3. Vadims Vasilevskis (Latvia) = 4. Teemu Wirkkala (Finland) = 5. Ainars Kovals (Latvia)= 6. Mark Frank (Germany) = 7. Antti Ruuskanen (Finland) +2 8. Ari Mannio (Finland) -1 9. Igor Janik (Poland) -1 10. Oleksandr Pyatnytsya (Ukraine) = 11. Sergey Makarov (Russia) N 12. Guillermo Martínez (Cuba) -1 m2000m: 1. Jukka Keskisalo 5.00.32 NR He continues his great form, though I'm a bit worried he might be overracing... A 56-second last lap brought him home 0.19 inside our old NR (Vesa Siivonen '89). Remmy Limo was 2nd again. mHT: 1. Krisztián Pars HUN 78.55 2. Yury Shayunou BLR 78.04 3. O-P Karjalainen 76.40 None of the top three impressed. Karjalainen fell backfirst in the circle during his last throw after somehow managing to kick himself in the leg but luckily apparently escaped unhurt. m110h: 1. Juha Sonck FIN 13.65 A nice big PB for Sonck, who sadly missed the Berlin B standard by a fraction of a second. Not that he'd get anywhere at the WC - this is surely very close to his peak. m100: 1. Leroy Dixon USA 10.06 (+0.2) 2. Lerone Clarke JAM 10.11 mLJ: 1. Tommi Evilä FIN 795 2. Kim Deok-Hyeon KOR 793 Evilä got his revenge over Kim, but alas the results were weak. Of the two, Kim's still the bigger factor where Berlin is concerned. w100: 1. Sheri-Ann Brooks JAM 11.17 (+0.2) 2. Gloria Asumnu USA 11.23 This event was interesting for two reasons. Firstly Asumnu, who had a chance to win the whole meet series and €30.000 if she ran 10.98 or faster. No luck there (Pars won - is there really bigger money anywhere for a hammer thrower right now?  She fell to 3rd behind Nikkanen after not winning.) Secondly Brooks, the winner and one of the athletes implicated in the Jamaican positive tests scandal. She denied everything, including knowing what the substance was or what the whole thing was about. No real surprise there.
wPV: 1. Minna Nikkanen 446 NR 2. Vanessa Vandy 430 Another NR, and some okay attempts at 451. Unfortunately this still won't cut it at international level... w100h: 1. Josanne Lucas TRI 13.02 Yes, that's the 400m hurdler in a second event. Smooth going.
National champs started this morning at Espoo. Nothing very internationally notable today (mJav final's on Sunday of course). Very nearly live results available here: http://live.time4results.com/yu/2009/kalevankisat/
it probably has been mentioned, but i did not see any mention on this thread. keskikalo ran 8:12.93 in the steeple in monaco on tuesday just missing the national record of finland by 3 tenths of a second.
This was commented on in the Monaco steeple thread: http://mb.trackandfieldnews.com/discuss ... hp?t=36754 By the way, the spelling is Keskisalo, with "k"s and "s"s alternating. (You must also avoid confusing him with the female sprinter Sari Keskitalo.)
Not many highlights during the 1st day. The events were weakish, and average weather (cold, rainy) kept marks down even further.
O-P Karjalainen won mHT with 77.76 but still doesn't look like a Berlin medalist. Admittedly, this event looks very weak right now - sub-80 could well medal, even (unlikely) win. mSP was atrocious, with Tuomo Tihinen winning at 18.47. To think that at turn of millennium we had 7 guys over 20 in a year... Tommi Hartonen, NR holder (10.21) in the 100m (but from as far back as '01) staged an impressive comeback, looking great (well, by Finnish standards, apparent 10.3x shape is great) in the heat. (He already looked excellent at Finnish club relay champs early this month.) Last edited by LopenUupunut on Sat Aug 01, 2009 11:55 am, edited 1 time in total.
That 400m start list looks atrocious. I should move back to Finland tomorrow.
Well obviously I had to fulfill my destiny of being the fifth-fastest guy in DIII before I could go and do any of that!
Seriously though, I'd be lying if I didn't at times toy with the idea of what a Valtimaki/Heikkala/Hongisto relay with myself in 2005 form might be able to run. 3:05? Who knows. Either way, there's at least two Finnish athletics fans on here, good enough
Only 9 men got the qualification standard of 76.00 in men's javelin. We still have a decent top end, but the depth's not there. Everyone in the Berlin mix got it with at most 2 throws.
Sub-3:40 1500m (PB, and a real rarity in today's Finland) for Keskisalo in his final pre-Berlin race. He's heading back to St. Moritz for a couple weeks now...
Tommi Evilä 8.19, big SB - perhaps I wrote him off too early, though with the current global level of long jumping it should take much more to medal at Berlin.
560 PB for Eemeli Salomäki should secure him our one spot in the pole vault.
Javelin final today. Results were good considering the conditions (rain, slippery mondo). Pitkämäki called it quits after 2 rounds to avoid risking injury. The rest of them went at it in spite of the conditions for all six rounds like madmen, or Finnish males, which is pretty much the same. Wirkkala looks like a Berlin medalist right now with all throws at 83+. Ruuskanen was also more solid than ever and surely deserves the fourth Berlin spot. Järvenpää had an impressive foul in the ~85 range but was shaky apart from that and nearly missed the last three rounds. Looks like we're sending four serious medal candidates to Berlin and leaving a 85.70 guy home!
1 5 Teemu Wirkkala 85,84 84,34 84,95 X 84,71 83,96 85,84 2 4 Antti Ruuskanen 84,64 81,77 84,64 81,45 82,12 81,17 83,55 3 2 Tero Pitkämäki 84,28 84,28 83,41 - - - - 4 6 Ari Mannio 81,54 X 81,54 X X X X 5 7 Jarkko Koski-Vähälä 80,22 75,92 74,67 80,22 77,59 74,94 73,95 6 3 Esko Mikkola 79,90 - X 79,90 76,49 X X 7 10 Lassi Etelätalo 78,27 70,74 73,28 78,27 73,68 X X 8 1 Tero Järvenpää 78,26 77,35 X X 78,26 77,25 X 9 21 Viljo Toivanen 77,00 66,19 75,31 77,00
Final Berlin team selected (SBs included):
Men - 400mH: Jussi Heikkilä Hasn't been as strong as last year, and was selected on the strength of a '08 B standard. Advancing from the heats would be a very pleasant surprise. 3000mSC: Jukka Keskisalo In the form of his life, should make it to the final at least. Could do anything, even win, if the pace is slow enough. A fast final of 8:05 or lower would probably kill his chances though. High jump: Oskari Frösén Starting to grow old and hasn't been very consistent this year. Only has a tiny chance of even making the final. Pole vault: Eemeli Salomäki Not yet ready to make a big international impact, but he's still young and improving and this will be a valuable experience. Making the final isn't impossible but probably requires a PB in the qualification. Long jump: Tommi Evilä After a by his standards mediocre season he finally looked good at the NCs. Even so, I'd be happy with just a spot in the final. Any chance of replicating his medal from '05 hinges on others not performing as well as expected. Discus: Frantz Kruger Has been battling huge technical problems the whole year, and didn't even win the national ch'ship, so a top 12 spot would be great. Hammer: Olli-Pekka Karjalainen After a reportedly good training winter I expected much more of him this year, but nevertheless he's probably the wild card of our team. With the global level of hammer throwing as weak as it has this year been, if he peaks as neatly as the last three years a medal wouldn't be shocking. Mind you, his going out in the qualification wouldn't be shocking either, since he's never really been a morning session man. Hammer: David Söderberg Much less is expected of him. That could be a good thing, since he can only really exceed the expectations. An SB will be required for a spot in the final. Javelin: Tero Pitkämäki Defending champ. Has shown good and solid form this year and has many excellent memories of Berlin, including a 2009 Golden League victory. The title defense isn't impossible but appears unlikely. Javelin: Tero Järvenpää Something of a question mark, with very few competitions this year after injuries and illnesses. Personally, I'm afraid he could go out in the qualification, since last year's stability isn't there. But if he nails things right anything could happen. Javelin: Teemu Wirkkala The upcoming in-form guy, looked super-solid at NCs. With two consecutive comps at 85 plus he seems to have quickly risen to the status of a medal favorite. . Javelin: Antti Ruuskanen First big meet after two consecutive years as the first man out, it remains to be seen how well he can adjust to the World Champs atmosphere. If that just turns out to give him extra energy even gold isn't out of the question. 50km walk: Jarkko Kinnunen His current form is hard to assess, something which due to the low competing rate applies to almost any walker. A top ten finish is hoped for but probably depends on what others do. Women - 3000mSC: Sandra Eriksson Only narrowly got the B standard, she's certainly expected to go out in the heats. Her best years are hopefully still to come. High jump: Hanna Grobler A return to form after years of injury woes. A spot in the finals is the aim but will require a near-SB performance at least. Pole vault: Minna Nikkanen Has broken the national record many times this year but looked very vulnerable today. Not expected to make the final. Pole vault: Vanessa Vandy Exactly the same applies, except that she's only broken the NR once this year. Hammer: Merja Korpela She looked very good early this year - if she can recapture that form, making the cut isn't out of the question. More probably not. Javelin: Mikaela Ingberg An excellent major meet competitor, this quality will have to be shown again for her to make the final. She's very much at the edge - making the final would be a pleasant surprise, not making it a clear disappointment.
A couple injury notes.
Vandy's knee is a problem, explaining why she had one of her worst meets this year. She might miss Berlin. More notably, Pitkämäki didn't skip those four throws entirely voluntarily but to avoid turning a minor injury into a major injury. He apparently hurt his leg a bit in the second throw. As things look now, this appears minor enough to be entirely healed by Berlin. But his coach admitted to being worried. By the way, Thorkildsen 88.55 at Norwegian NCs...
Do you know what Heli Raatanen is up to these days?
Long story but she came and trained in my city (we got an email from her out of the blue in 2001) . I arranged everything for her. Unfortunately she reinjured her elbow while here and had to fly back to Finland for surgery. We lost track of her after that. I know she was coaching-is she still doing that?
She's quit sports in all forms other than simply following and works in the marketing department of some random firm, I think.
Reportedly this has healed faster than expected and Pitkämäki should be pretty much 100% at WC
Re: Finnish news
Mannio and Wirkkala opened their seasons in Dessau today, with 82.00 and 80.01 respectively (Vasilevskis 2nd with 81.20). Pitkämäki will open in Florø tomorrow (against Thorkildsen, Makarov and a couple of our younger guys). Ruuskanen will open in Oslo Diamond League...
Last edited by LopenUupunut on Tue Jun 01, 2010 10:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Finnish news
How about Valimaki, Heikkala, Hongisto..? Any promising sprinters coming up?
Re: Finnish news
We have one promising sprinter in both boys and girls (Jani Koskela, 17, 48.93 and Ella Räsänen, 16, 53.94). That's pretty much all as far as the hope department is concerned. The Finnish outdoor season hasn't really started yet, so there's not much to report on anybody.
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