The track professor’s on-board computer was calibrated to EM gold.
Normally the mirror-like Topi Raitanen covered his face at the finish when the European championship was certain. After the competition, he spoke touchingly about his loved ones. Pasi Liesimaa
Midsummer 2020 Top Raitanen announced in Iltalehti’s story that the simple goal is an EC medal in 2022.
The professor of railways did not speak warmly. On Friday, the on-board computer rattling in the head was calibrated for the European championship at the Olympic Stadium in Munich.
When the gold was certain, the usually restrained man was moved.
– I would like to thank my coach Janne Ukonmaanaho, my family and partners the most. The family gave permission to become an athlete and the partners make it possible for me to do this as a profession, Raitanen, 26, said.
– I’ve never had to explain to my family or my wife why I don’t go to real work or study at a normal pace. Everyone has supported my sports career. It’s not for nothing that the meal at the Christmas table has been stretched out so that I have time to do the other workouts, he continued.
The runner had to be with his orienteer friend in Tampere on Friday Aleksi Niemen at the wedding as the best man, but he was also the best man in the obstacle final.
– Tactics for Friday were created with joint rounds of golf, that how he knows how to say I want and I run hard for the last round.
A masterpiece
Raitanen led the group for almost four laps, so that he could keep a suitable pace for himself. Pasi Liesimaa
Raitanen’s run was a tactical masterpiece. He knew the abilities of his opponents perfectly and knew how to calculate the pace of the competition to suit his own taste. The winning time of 8:21.80 was a running speed that suited the Finn, who is known for his tight 400-800 meters.
– I had to be more active in this run than in the heat. And such a speed that everyone is satisfied. No one else had the urge to go as fast as I did, so I kept a nice little pace. And you had to be careful not to get dents. I looked lap by lap to see that no one would pass.
The Finn held the pole position for three and a half laps until the Italian men passed. Raitanen says that he knew how to wait for the Italians to strike.
– A few other guys also came by limping. I expected it. Then it was waiting to be able to put the gas on the bottom on the last lap.
Raitanen knew his competitors like the back of his hand, because the EC final was as if the man himself had scripted it.
– Even though the guys there had hard statistical times, I knew in advance based on the WC final that there was no desire to go there. That’s how bad they froze in Eugene. Then the thing was thought of as who is the fastest in the last lap. Luckily it was me.
Do you have data on your opponents?
– They are familiar friends, so you know their strengths. And I always follow the results. I knew that I haven’t had a button run yet this season.
Silver and bronze went to Italy: Ahmed Abdelwahed (8.22,35) and Osama Zoghlam (8.23,44).
Ex resin neck
Italian men Ahmed Abdelwahed (left) and Osama Zoghlami stood with the Finn on the podium. Pasi Liesimaa
Even in the last decade, Raitanen was more of an orienteer than an obstacle runner. He left the top-level pitching jobs only at the end of the 2010s.
– In running, you can measure your own development and you can really see how good an athlete is. The clock doesn’t lie. The man-on-man fight ignites. They have always been dreamed of. It has made it to this sport when it is able to utilize its own strengths.
The Munich Olympic Stadium has been a great endurance running venue for Finns. Pekka Vasala and Lasse Virén ran Bavaria to Olympic victories in the 1972 Games and Janne Holmén at the 2002 EC marathon.
– Yes, it was tense at the line. We have been waiting for this competition for quite a few years.
Raitanen has maintained a speed mustache for the competition. He says that the former prime minister Alex Stubbs asked before the EC final what to do with the mustache.
– I like these, the EC hero smiled.
– The gold medal is a great award so far, but the career does not end there.