Veera Mattila’s tactics worked brilliantly in the final.
Veera Mattila was all smiles after the EC silver run. Viljami Kalmari
Two sensational European Championship medals in the under-23 competitions fit into Friday. By day Eemil Helander 5,000 meters for EC silver.
More silver rained down in Finland in the evening in Espoo. Veera Mattila, 20, rattled off a key success in the 800m. The result was my own record time of 2:03.14.
– I didn’t even dream of a medal. I knew it would be possible to run a really good time, but I thought that any result would be fine in the final race, Mattila beamed.
The Vammala region’s Voima runner got a great place on the track, and the tactic was successful.
– The first round seemed calm. I got a good spot and was able to roll easily. I was after the Spaniard and I knew he was going to finish hard.
– I just had to stay on his heels, and that’s how I got out of the bag.
of Spain Daniela García ran first to the finish line with a time of 2:02.96, followed by Mattila.
Mattila, who studies biology at the University of Turku, admitted that the final brought butterflies to her stomach.
– I was really tired because of the excitement, but I was able to pull myself together. My coach just said that I’m in good shape.