A very high-quality athletics event will be held on Saturday at Kuortane.
Berlin, Madrid, Manchester, Edmonton, Nashville, Edmonton …
And then there’s Kuortane.
The third-highest level competitions in the 2022 athletics season will be held in the world’s metropolises – and in the Ostrobothnian community of 3,500 inhabitants.
It is a small miracle that on Saturday in Southern Ostrobothnia there will be one of the eighteen silver series races this season.
– To my recollection, this is the 83rd race in Kuortane. There have been years between wars when the event was not held, according to Kuortane’s 30-year-old athlete contracts Tero Heiska.
– The tradition is long, as is the spirit and the world of thought. The municipality and the sports college are behind it. And of course there are enough sports crazy types in the background. For example Heikki Savela has done absolutely cruel hard work ahead of the race all her life, Heiska continues.
Last year, Kuortane was a bronze-level competition on the International Athletics Federation. The top tier is the Diamond League, then the gold series, silver and bronze. Turku’s Paavo Nurmi Games was a gold series this season.
More money
Rod jumper Wilma Murto will compete in the Kuortane competition this year as well. Jussi Saarinen
The prize money must be distributed at a minimum of EUR 70,000 at the silver level instead of the bronze level of EUR 30,000.
– There are very few athletes for whom we pay start money. But for a few, of course, because they are world stars.
The toughest names in the spear are the Olympic winners of the spear Neeraj Chopra and Keshorn Walcottworld champion Anderson PetersOlympic discus throw winner and world champion Daniel Ståhl as well as a three-jump World Championship silver medalist Shanieka Ricketts.
– I have visited almost all the diamond league competition venues and without drawing any home, I can say that nowhere is there such a good place to hold a tough international competition as in Kuortane. All training facilities are within walking distance of the accommodation, Heiska advertises.
Kuortane, on the other hand, is a bit challenging to reach along the air bridge. The nearest airport is in Vaasa, approximately 115 km away.
– Some do not come when they find the trip a bit awkward. But when one comes, there usually comes another, Heiska comments.
– The manager of one of our previous athletes recently contacted us. I said we could no longer afford to pay him in the budget. The next day, the athlete contacted himself and said that if he pays for most of the trips and others, he could come. I welcomed.
A magical spear
The main auditorium of a peeled sports field is usually full. Picture of last year’s Midsummer Games. Jussi Saarinen
Johannes Vetter 93.59, Aki Parviainen 93.09, Kostas Gatsioudis 91.69, Tero Pitkämäki 91.53, Jan Zelezny 91.04 and Magnus Kirt 90.61 meters.
As many as six different men have pulled more than 90 meters on the Kuortane sports field with the current spear model. It’s probably unique.
22 different athletes have thrown more than 90 meters with the current spear model. One of them German Raymond Hecht is the only one that has never competed in Southern Ostrobothnia.
– There is a strong impression in the spear circles that Kuortane is always thrown far.
There is also a concrete explanation. There are throwing spots at both ends of the open field and the spear race is always organized according to the optimal winds.
A new platform
Kuortane, with about 3,500 inhabitants, is located in Southern Ostrobothnia, just over a 30-minute drive from Seinäjoki. Tomi Natri / All Over Press
At the end of the 2010s, the world’s number one shooter at the time Thomas Röhler criticizes the surface of the peeled field. The Mondo platform crumbled in the heat and the thrower was not allowed to hold the outrigger.
Last year, when Vetter threw a field record of 93.59, the start slipped.
– Now the platform is the best in the world, Heiska says.
After last season, Vetter tested several different substrate materials. The best of them was selected for the production of the mondo manufacturer. Such was placed on both throw-in points of Kuortane Field.
– John is very pleased. Now it doesn’t slip, but the support leg can be hit properly on the field, says Heiska, Vetter’s competition manager.
Finally, the essential point.
Kuortane has usually competed on Midsummer. The organizers would have liked to cherish the practice, but the International Athletics Federation did not agree.
– These are known as Midsummer’s Eve. In the corona year of 2020, when the event was held in August, there was talk of a Midsummer race.
Tero Heiska has been organizing the Kuortane Athletics Championships for as long as 30 years. Tomi Olli