Nihti revealed why he goes by the name “mokkapalatopahoi” on social media.
That feeling when you win the world championship. Iris Nihti showed her skills in the cage. EPA / AOP
- Iris Nihti returned Finland to the World Championship gold base in the adult series of the freestyle event of the World Championships.
- Nihti is studying for a master’s degree in engineering at Aalto University.
- In the final, Nihti took the opponent out of their comfort zone.
– I was excited to see if the verdict would go the right way. It felt like I won, but From Split one can never know.
The tension erupted into joy and luckily in the evening in Belgrade, in the middle of the octagonal cage. Iris Nihdi26, hand raised in the air when split decision i.e. the split verdict went to the Finn with points.
Nihti was crowned women’s freestyle world champion. It is not an everyday or even annual delicacy in Finland. Nihti is only the second Finnish woman to become adult world champion. He brought home the previous adult WC gold Abdul Hussein in 2016.
– The feeling was… I can’t describe it in words. This boils down to so much mental and physical work over such a long period of time, and I get to do this with the people I love, Nihti felt after getting to the hotel from the competition venue.
– I knew how skilled I was and I wanted to show it to the world.
The lightweight (70.3-kilogram) fighter cleared his way to the World Cup final in a show-like style, but the biggest challenge of the tournament awaited him in the final. English Isabelle McGaughey let his fists do the talking and got to hit Nihti a couple of times angrily.
However, Nihti knew how to put the Briton in a tight spot.
– He was quite a hard-nosed mime, but at no point was there anything to worry about. I noticed that he got really tired during the match, and he didn’t really like wrestling.
– I got the feeling that my fists are really hard too. I had seen some clips of him and his confidence was evident. I knew that there would be a hard grind, but I thought that then we would go and grind.
“In the spring to go”
Iris Nihdi felt that she too has hard fists. EPA / AOP
The championship game turned out perfectly for Nihti. During the third three-minute period, the Espoo Kehähaiden player implemented a plan that had been thought out with the whole match in mind.
– First standing up, then on your lap and lying on the mat. I saw that he didn’t like being under and he couldn’t get out of there, so it was nice to be on the ground, Nihti said.
At the age of 17, Thai boxing started, then lock wrestling and finally freestyle wrestling came into the picture. Hyvinkää’s RNC Sport Club changed to Espoo’s Tontunmäki wrestling gym, when Nihti moved to the capital region three and a half years ago after studying.
He is studying for a master’s degree in engineering at Aalto University.
– I will graduate in the spring. Studying has been a little slower because of sports, the teekari competitor said.
Along with his studies, he works in a gym.
On the mat, the British athlete fell badly against the Finn. EPA / AOP
– There has been such good support through work and family that there has been no need to search for sponsors with such great pressure.
– The world championship definitely brings more visibility, especially on the social media side. Companies don’t sponsor just for charity, they want visibility, and it’s now much easier to provide that.
“My friend didn’t believe it”
Nihti has appeared on Instagram for a long time now with a very original moniker: mokkapalatopahoi. The World Cup gold medalist laughs when asked about its background.
– I used to complain that I think mocha pieces are a little overrated traditional delicacy. My friend couldn’t believe it unless I put it as an Instagram nickname. I was like, okay, let’s go.
– After all, it has caused a bit of amusement at the buffet tables. And it is quite difficult to open it to foreigners, Nihti admits.
Janika Antimaa (right) is Iris Nihdi’s coach and best friend. IMMAF
Nihti’s coach and best friend at the same time Janika Antinmaawho is also known as a valuable race visitor.
– Sometimes he has to pull out the court card when I start messing around too much. As friends, we are really equal. But Janika knows and sees right away what I’m thinking at any time and we certainly talk more about the sport than many other coaches and athletes do with each other.
Nihti and competed in the under-21 age group Sani Brannfors return home from Serbia with gold medals. Finnish men were left without the precious metal. However, Nihti describes the race week as wonderful.
– I’ve laughed more than in the whole year. We’ve practically been slogging away and messing around in between. It has worked!
There were hardly any pieces of suede at the Belgrade Gold Festival.
– I’ll probably go to sleep, if I can. After the adrenaline and caffeinated drinks of matches, it is often quite difficult. Let’s see if we go into the night, the happy master decided.
He would still like to celebrate the European championship before turning professional.
The national anthem played on Friday in Belgrade. EPA / AOP