Annimari Korte, 35, suspects age discrimination – Complained to the court

In the next few weeks, the Ministry of Education and Culture (OKM) will publish the 2024 athlete grants for summer sports athletes, but the saga of the 2023 grants has not yet ended.

Former SE woman in the 100m hurdles Annimari Korte35, announced in April that he would appeal to the administrative court against the decision that he was not awarded an athlete grant for 2023. That’s what he did.

Iltalehti was told by the Helsinki Administrative Court that the case has been initiated in April 2023, but in the overcrowded institution the average processing time for that group of cases is more than a year.

Therefore, the resolution of the dispute between Kortte and OKM may drag on for a long time this year.

The indoor athletics world championships are held in March in Glasgow, the European outdoor track championships in June in Rome and the Olympic Games in August in Paris.

“rejected”

Kortte applied for a grant of 10,000 euros in October 2022. In the decision sent to Kortte in February, OKM announced that the grant would not be awarded.

Korte sent a two-and-a-half-page rectification request to OKM, in which the student justified why he thought he was entitled to a grant of 10,000 euros.

OKM’s response in April was again unequivocal: Your claim is rejected.

According to OKM’s criteria, the scholarship applied for by Kortte can be awarded to an all-around athlete who has established his level among the top 16 in “world-wide international competitions or other international competitions of a similar level”.

– In 2022, the applicant did not participate in the prestigious competitions of his sport due to an injury, and the applicant’s best time of the 2022 season was 13.10 seconds, with an international ranking of 109. In 2021, the athlete participated in the Olympic Games, finishing in 26th place, and the best result of the 2021 competition season of 12.91 seconds entitled him to the international ranking list to place 45, OKM informed Korttee.

OKM informed Korttee that the grants take into account the results of the two previous competition seasons, i.e. in this case the years 2022 and 2021.

– During the two years in question, the applicant has not been able to present results that meet the 10,000 euro grant criteria, OKM said.

It takes money

After this, Korte took the case to the administrative court. In Aitur’s opinion, OKM’s decision is against the law and he demands a grant of 10,000 euros.

Korte accuses OKM of violating the Equality Act.

– It seems that the basis of discrimination in my case has been age, Korte wrote to the administrative court.

– I demand a change based on the fact that I meet the criteria for the grant and among the grant recipients are athletes whose results meet the criteria less well. The only difference to other recipients of the 10,000-euro grant is a higher age. I was 34 years old when I applied for a grant in 2022, Korte continued.

According to Kortte, OKM did not justify the rejection of the grant application in its previous decision, “even though other athletes with the same or worse performances received a grant”.

According to Kortte, he did not participate in value competitions in 2022 due to sick leave.

Korte wrote to the administrative court that neither the recipient of the 10,000 euro grant Mary Huntington did not participate in the 2022 value races.

– And (Huntington’s) season 2021 performances were weaker based on statistics, but in a comparable situation, he still received a grant. Huntington was 25 years old in 2022, Korte wrote.

Suspects age discrimination

In the complaint he sent to the Administrative Court, Korte compares the results he has made over the years, among other things Elmo Lakka and competitor Reetta to Hurskewho received 10,000 euros.

Korte is of the opinion that he meets the criteria for the grant at least as well as Hurske and Lakka. Based on this, Korte writes to the administrative court that he suspects discrimination based on age.

The elite sports unit of the Finnish Olympic Committee makes a proposal to OKM about the recipients of the grants. Before this, the Olympic Committee, on the other hand, asks the athletics federation, i.e. the Finnish Sports Confederation (Sul), for a ranking list of the athletes who have applied for a scholarship.

Sul ranked Reetta Hurskee 25th in her own ranking, Kortte 26th and Laka 32nd.

The Olympic Committee made changes to Suli’s listing. In the presentation submitted to OKM by the Olympic Committee, a moukari man born in 1997 fell from the highest place Aaron Kangaswhich was 16th in Suli’s ranking list.

Quick beeper Nooralotta Neziri fell out of the scholarships at number 27 on Suli’s list, Camilla Richardson instead of 30.

43 track and field athletes received a grant for 2023. Of these, 12 were grants of 6,000 euros, which are only awarded to young athletes.

According to Kortte, Sul is “the top expert body in athletics” and OKM has not “properly fulfilled its official responsibility”.

OKM denies

OKM issued a statement on the matter to the Administrative Court in June. OKM said again that Kortte has no evidence for the years 2021 and 2022 that entitles it to a grant. According to OKM, it is not important in the consideration whether the cause of weak or missing results is injury or illness.

Based on age discrimination, OKM denies and calls the claim unfounded.

OKM also explained why Hurske got the grant but Korte didn’t. OKM listed that Hurske finished 23rd in the World Championships, 9th in the European Championships and that Hurske’s best result of the season was 12.88 and the international ranking was 55th.

Kortte’s best time of the 2022 season was 13.10.

– In the results of 2021, these applicants were practically at the same level, OKM recorded, but stated that Korte was slightly ahead of Hursket in 2021.

According to OKM, the results and competition success of Huntington, Hurskee and Laka were better than 2021–22 Kortetta.

OKM states that it can accept the Olympic Committee’s proposal without changes or make changes to it.

In OKM’s opinion, Kortte’s appeal to the administrative court should be rejected in its entirety as unfounded.

Comparison with others

Korte submitted a counter-explanation of more than five pages to the administrative court, in which the athlete justifies why he thinks he is still entitled to 10,000 euros.

In his various justifications, Korte mentions, among other things, that he won three out of four races against Hurske in two years and finished better in the Tokyo Olympics 2021.

Korte also does not subscribe to OKM’s view that Huntington or Lakka would have done better than him in competitions.

– Huntington finished 17th in the Olympics in a sport with very little competition, and also did not participate in the 2022 ranking competitions due to illness, Korte wrote.

Korte wrote that Lakka was 35th in the World Championships and 20th in the Olympics.

– None of them ranked in the top 16 either, which the Ministry of Education and Culture refers to in its statement.

According to Kortte, the international rankings used by OKM have been wrong, because Korte was not ranked at all due to injury.

– Stripped-down world statistics is the only statistic that is relevant in terms of ranking competitions and grant criteria, Korte says and points out that he was ranked 57th.

Korte is of the opinion that with equal treatment he would have received a grant of 10,000 euros. On the other hand, in his opinion, many other athletes should not have received a scholarship, if ranking in the top 16 is an absolute criterion.

Without discrimination

Korte himself said in the spring of 2023 that he did not file a complaint just for the sake of his own support pot.

– This is not just about my 10,000 euros and why athletes a few years younger got it with the same or worse results, but about everyone should be treated equally, without discrimination, and decisions should be predictable and justified, he wrote on Instagram.

– In sports, the results are facts and subsidies should go based on them, not some people’s opinions.

Jooksija said that he consulted closely with lawyers and tabulated statistics and rankings.

– I hope that even though this has caused me sleepless nights and legal costs, this would promote equal treatment of athletes in the future and consistency and transparency in decisions.

– I want to coach in the future and I want my athletes to never even have to think about having to fight for their legal protection.

Also a top finisher in the 400-meter hurdles Viivi Lehikoinen said in February 2023 that he was dissatisfied with the support decisions.

– The individual result is decisive, even if the international level of that day is weaker. Within athletics alone, putting field and running sports in the same basket causes problems, because there are big differences in the international level and scope of the sports, Lehikoinen told Iltalehti.

– It would be great if the grant was not a reward for success, as the decision-makers regularly deny.