Qualifying for the Finnish javelin team is difficult at the best of times, but the contest for Olympic team berths this week became a lot more competitive for all but two of the country’s top throwers.

European javelin champion Antti Ruuskanen last weekend won the Finnish title with a PB of 88.98m. The 31-year-old took some time out from his busy schedule to answer our ‘personal bests’ questions.

The first of two IAAF Diamond League finals will take place at the famous Weltklasse meeting in Zurich with no fewer than 16 Diamond Races to be concluded on Thursday.

At the age of four, Antti Ruuskanen gazed at the television in his parents’ home entranced by the sight of Tapio Korjus launching his javelin to win the men’s gold medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. To complete the small boy’s day, another Finn, Seppo Raty, picked up the bronze medal behind the great Czech Jan Zelezny.

Renaud Lavillenie’s winning run of 22 pole vault competitions came to an abrupt and unexpected end at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Stockholm’s 1912 Olympic Stadium as he failed to clear a height on Thursday (21).

Year after year, Stockholm’s DN Galan produces one of the world’s premier athletics events and this year’s edition of the IAAF Diamond League meeting on 21 August promises to be no exception.

Mo Farah added yet another 5000m/10,000m double to his world and Olympic doubles on Sunday (17) to highlight the final day of the European Championships in Zurich.

Olympic Javelin Throw bronze medallist Antti Ruuskanen took the 10,000 euros jackpot of the Finnish Elite Games Series as the series concluded in Joensuu on Saturday (18).