Iltalehti’s athletics expert Arto Bryggare would say that Saga Vannisen in the case of the grant, there could be a “place to throw in the towel”.
– I hope that the Olympic Committee will think about how to distribute those hundreds of thousands, Bryggare said.
– The head of coaching (Matti Heikkinen) is forced to react.
Bryggare’s comments were based on the January decision according to which Vanninen, a recent World Indoor medalist, is a 10,000 euro scholarship athlete. According to the most recent OKM’s decision, 12 track and field athletes enjoy the largest grant, i.e. 20,000 euros.
Training and coaching grants for athletes are awarded by the Ministry of Education and Culture. Presentations of grant recipients are made by the Olympic Committee’s elite sports unit.
– Increasing or reassessing the grant in the middle of the grant period is by law and also practically impossible, explains Kari Niemi-Nikkolachief inspector of the Ministry of Education and Culture’s area of responsibility for physical activity.
– If the results presented after the end of the application period were taken into account, it should be possible for all applicants equally, because more results are made almost all the time.
Niemi-Nikkola reminds that the grant is awarded based on the results of the two previous competition seasons. In other words: this year’s scholarship has been awarded based on the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
– New results obtained after the application period will of course be taken into account in the next application round.
“It’s good to move on from here”
Saga Vanninen, 20, is a bright star of Finnish athletics. PASI LEISMA
Matti Heikkinen, head of the Olympic Committee’s elite sports unit, says that Vanninen, 20, has been a scholarship athlete for four years already.
– In the elite sports unit, we make all presentations to OKM according to the criteria, i.e. everything is based on the data of continuous monitoring and evaluation as well as the criteria of the ministry, Heikkinen commented.
– Saga has been awarded an athlete grant of 10,000 euros in the last two years, and 6,000 euros twice before (young athlete grant). As a whole, taking into account all forms of support, the Olympic Committee has supported Saga over the last four years through various forms of support with almost 30,000 euros per year, because we believe that Saga will be a future winner of value competitions for adults.
Heikkinen states that the invoices include individual, coaching and Olympic solidarity support as well as expert services.
– It’s wonderful that everyday work and investments are paying off. This is good for continuing cooperation towards Paris.