Athletics’ Paavo Nurmi Games wants to join the Diamond League for 2029.
PN Turku oy, which runs the Paavo Nurmi Games, and its close partner, the City of Turku, have announced that the goal is to compete in the Diamond League of the main series of athletics in 2029. The city of Turku will be 800 years old at that time.
– In practice, the matter will turn out so that the Diamond League will have some significant added value if Turku comes there. Not that we meet the minimum standards. There are plenty of other willing people in the queue, says the CEO of PN Turku oy Jari Salonen.
According to Salonen, the framework for the Diamond League will be fixed next summer, when the city of Turku invests in the basic improvement work of the Paavo Nurme stadium. The so-called cement benches in the stadium’s back straight stands and curved stands will be replaced with real seats. After the renovation, the stadium has about 8,700 seats.
– On top of this, there will be 2,000–3,000 regional places. We can make temporary grandstands for the back straight and curves.
The hosts of the 2026 Diamond League season are the Swedes, who operate in smaller stadiums: Stockholm’s Olympic Stadium attracts around 14,000 spectators.
– The Turku Diamond League will not be caught from the stadium.
Double the money
Wilma Heltelä (left), Lotta Harala and Ilona Mononen are the domestic stars of the Paavo Nurmi Games this season. Sami Nurmi
The diamond league is run by a limited company. In Salonen’s words, its decision-makers must be “charmed”.
How do Turku people do it?
– A similar thing to how Finland sells itself to the world in general, Salonen begins.
– I have to trust that the athletics culture here is at its peak, it’s worth seeing the partners here, and on the other hand, we are so technically competent here that we are ready to try something new. “Greatness and European integration are not things that Finland can manage,” he clarifies.
In recent years, Paavo Nurmi Games has belonged to the gold series, the second highest step in athletics. The athlete budget for this year’s competition, which will be held on Wednesday, is around half a million euros. In the Diamond League, it should be doubled.
Last season, the people of Turku were ranked 22nd in the competition ranking of the International Athletics Federation. There were two gold series competitions before: Hungary (16th place) and the Czech Republic (20th).
To the neighbors’ sled
Jari Salonen is the CEO of PN Turku oy, which operates Paavo Nurmi Games. Jenni Gästgivar
Stockholm’s Diamond League competition was sixth in last season’s ranking and seventh in Oslo’s diamond series.
Turku would like to jump on the same bandwagon with its Nordic partners.
– The joint strategy would be that we find a competitive factor element, which would make Turku-Stockholm-Oslo as a trio more interesting for the Diamond League than Stockholm-Oslo as a duo.
The people of Turku have to put their best on the table during this and next season.
– Hopefully next summer the Diamond League will send a delegate here. This competition has to be seen and experienced on the spot, Salonen announces.
– Then we should get Diamond League candidate status and competition for the 2029 season. It is possible, the CEO states.