Krista Tervo of Finland competed in women’s hammer throw qualifications at the Paris 2024 Olympics on 4 August 2024. Tervo advanced to the finals by winning her qualification group with a throw of 74.79 metres, a new Finnish record, and was later joined by Silja Kosonen. Kosonen finished fifth and Tervo sixth in the finals, the former with a new season-best of 74.04 metres and the latter with 73.83 metres. (Andrej Isakovic – AFP / Lehtikuva)
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RIIKKA PAKARINEN, the chairperson of the Finnish Athletics Federation (SUL), has challenged the impression that Finnish athletes performed badly at the newly concluded Paris Olympics.
Pakarinen on Sunday admitted in a blog post that she is naturally tremendously disappointed with the failure to win a single medal – the first such failure in 116 years – but reminded that Finnish athletics athletes finished in the top 8 four times and in the top 16 nine times.
“Every Finn who competed in the final was seeking a medal. It is a big disappointment for the athlete, the coach and the support circle. However, when you look at the number of finals appearances, the result was the best in decades. Also the Finnish national records and the upward cycle of women’s long-distance running were delightful,” she argued.
“Our team is still young.”
Communications from the Finnish Olympic Committee, she analysed, have created the erroneous impression that summer sports and athletics have failed in recent years.
“Everyone who has followed sports has taken note of the resurgence of athletics. Twelve medals in the 2020s. In Paris, four top 8 places and nine top 16 places in one of the top sports globally,” she reiterated.
The Finnish Olympic Committee has recently come under criticism for focusing excessively on sports as a tool to promote public health at the expense of elite sports, a critique that was echoed by Pakarinen. She argued that sports stakeholders have to re-examine the role of the committee before the end of the year.
“Strong investments in elite sports are needed. Making sure Finns move is an extremely important goal, but in the future it should be left on the shoulders of sports associations,” she wrote.
She also demanded that the committee create a funding mechanism for providing athletes competing at the highest level globally with tailored support. “The Olympic Committee is currently lacking this kind of a mechanism.”
Pakarinen called for a higher level of ambition in athletics.
“In athletics, a couple of years ago there was talk that Finnish athletics could realistically find success at European Championships. I have personally disagreed. We must aim for the world level,” she underscored.
She also lamented the inefficient and scattered nature of public funding and the lack of fundraising efforts by sports associations.
Children and youth, she also stressed, should be able to engage in a variety of sports for longer than currently.
“We have lost the diversity of children and youth sports in Finland. This is inevitably reflected also at the level of elite athletes. Children especially in team sports have to make the choice [of which sports to pursue] very early, at little over 10 years of age. That makes no sense,” wrote Pakarinen.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
- Next Article Paris ends Finland’s 116-year medal streak in Summer Olympics
Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
