Seinävarma Lassi Etelätalo is looking back on his handsome race career and plans to return from Germany to Finland with a medal around his neck.
Lassi Etelätalo, 34, is a Finnish basic guy whose habits don’t include chugging. When a very realistic javelin thrower says in Munich that the goal is an EC medal and there is a strong chance for it, there is no need to question it.
– In the Kaleva Games, the first couple of throws had good bangs, but the second one slipped through the fingers and the second one did not match the speed. The last kasinelonen came by force. It felt like there were clearly meters left in stock, says the athlete who won gold with the second best result of his career, 84.62.
In Joensuu there were seams up to 86–87 meters.
It would surely win medals in Germany, for that by Jakub Vadljechin (90.88) and Julian Weber After (89,54) the game is completely open.
Conkar recovered from pneumonia Vitzeslav Vesely (85,97), Moldovan Andrian Mardare (84.77) or fluctuating German Andreas Hofmann (87,32) are in the bronze game with Etelätalo in advance.
Special formula
– Of course a medal is the goal, says Lassi Etelätalo. PASI LEISMA
Etelätalo has been in the prestigious competitions four times in his career and always in the finals among the top eight.
– I have found a good formula for preparing for the main competition of the season already in my youth. First, a tougher training period of a couple of weeks is done, and after that we ease up for a week before the most important race of the season. Top fitness has always come out with this formula.
The cartridge has lasted admirably.
– When there have been successes, I haven’t been excited about any value competitions.
Javelin fans have been more excited, because Etelätalo has had a habit of making the game tingly in the qualifiers.
Almost a triple win
The man went to the first prestigious races of his career in Zurich 2014 with a record arc in his back pocket.
– The qualification was bad, the man who went to the EC finals last with a result of 78.22 remembers.
In the final race, he was fourth with 83.16.
– In the final, it was a good situation for a while. It would have been sweet to take a triple win.
Antti Ruuskanen won and Tero Pitkämäki was third.
After a string of injuries in 2019, Etelätalo made a return to the prestigious competition at the World Championships in Doha.
– The two qualifying throws were tentative, until in the third I reached my level and got a good result of 82.26, the Finn who went from 12th place to the final again laughs.
– There was no break before the final. Many people could see it and I felt it myself. Just me and the world champion Anderson Peters we improved from qualifying.
With a result of 82.49, the fourth place was taken.
In the tooth cavity
At the World Cup final in Eugene in July, the Finn was sixth. PASI LEISMA
At the Olympic Games last summer, Etelätalo won the longest value competition lap of his career, when the qualifying 84.50 was the fifth best result in Tokyo.
– I missed the final. A medal was clearly close. I didn’t succeed technically as it would have been rough. It could have been 2-3 meters more, says Etelätalo, who finished in eighth place with a result of 83.28.
At the World Cup qualifier in Eugene in July, he threw in the towel after qualifying, but in the end the result of 80.03 was enough to qualify for the next round.
– I am satisfied with Eugene’s final instead of sixth. The result 82.70 was ok. Six meters more would have been required for a medal, and it was not possible for me under those conditions.
The men’s javelin qualification in Bavaria is on Friday and the final on Sunday.