Do you remember Pertti Pous? This is what he looks like now

Pertti Pousi held the Finnish triple jump record for an incredible 49 years. And a little on top.

The native of Helsinki jumped exactly 17 meters in the Midsummer Games in Kuortanee in 1968. The result was a Finnish record and was barely three centimeters short of the world record at the time.

Pousi got better Kari Rahkamon Finnish record held in the name of 60 cents.

– I remember it well. It was such an easy jump. That’s what others who saw it said, it was an easy-looking jump, says Pousi.

The record was only surpassed in July 2017 Simo Lipsanen in the under-23 European Championships in Poland.

– Many had injuries. Maybe sometimes there was such a situation that there were no suitable types. But for many others, injuries hampered their careers, that’s why it lasted as a record for so long, says Pousi, rather modestly.

Bad jumping off place

Today, the Helsinki Olympic Stadium is a handsome and modern place. It was already in the 1960s, but as a jumping off point it was not a diamond.

– At that time, the stadium was a divided place. There was always a lot of people there and the feeling was good.

– But the jumping spot was not good. Then we jumped in front of the main grandstand on the front straight. The wind was impossible. At the start, it could be positive and turned against during the pace. Couldn’t prepare for that.

– It wasn’t my favorite place, Pousi says the sports manager directly Jukka Härkönen at the “60 years since eight meters were broken” event.

Many species

77-year-old Pousi is one of those athletes whose repertoire included many different sports.

– I did the long jump and then there was the triple jump. I also ran the hundred and the relay. And when he was younger, he had fences with him, once a veteran who cleared a length of 804 in the Kuortanene Midsummer Games.

With the result, he is still tied for ninth place in Finland’s all-time statistics.

Pousi competed in the 1968 Mexico Olympics, but was eliminated from the finals in both of his sports, the long jump and the triple jump.

The Helsinki native won the Finnish championship in the triple jump in 1966, 1967, 1968 and 1969, in the long jump in 1967, 1968 and 1969 and in the relay in 1968.