Arsi Harju (FIN) puts for gold at the Sydney Olympics (© Getty Images)
Vaasa, FinlandArsi Harju, the reigning Olympic Shot champion, made an impressive start to his indoor season at the Botnia Games, last night. Harju produced a put of 21.00 metres in the fifth round, to improve his previous indoor personal best by 47cm. His series was also very promising with 20.78 (2nd round) and 20.28 (4th round).
Tepa Reinikainen, the 1995 Junior European Champion also showed promising form with a solid series of 20.43, 20.33, 20.45, 20.38 and 20.41 for second place. Jimmy Nordin of Sweden was third with 18.61.
Harju´s result is the second best in the World his year - Kevin Toth of the USA has already thrown 21.70m. Harju's mark is also the second best indoor result ever in Finland after Mika Halvari´s massive 22.09 in 2000.
As well as his Olympic title, Harju won bronze in the 2001 World Championships and took fourth last year at the European Championships, but did not compete during the indoor seasons of 2001 and 2002.
He suffered from a minor thigh cramp during the last few weeks, but has obviously now recovered fully.
“This kind of result already now, shows that I’ve been able to better some things in my technique and I am very pleased with that. I would be very, very satisfied, if I can keep this level in the rest of my indoor competitions this winter," confirmed a delighted Harju.
Harju´s coach Jorma Tuominiemi admitted, “Arsi made some very well balanced throws. Yes, we are surprised with this his first competition.”
His main goal in this indoor season is the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Birmingham, where the Shot Put will take place on the first day, Friday 14 March, just 4 days before Harju´s 29th birthday.
So far his best achievement at the World Indoors has been his 5th place in Maebashi in 1999, while at the European Indoor Championships, Harju took a bronze in 1998.
“Of course I’d like to throw very well in Birmingham, but that´s not a question of life for me. The most important competition in this year will be at the World Championships in Paris in August,” Harju reaffirmed.
Reinikainen´s 20.45m result is his own indoor personal best and only two cm short of the Birmingham entry standard. Reinikainen´s outdoor PB is 20.88 but given the strength of the Finnish shot put squad, with the exception of his 6th place at the 2000 European indoors, he has so far never got the chance to compete internationally at major senior championships.
Only three weeks ago the pressure of thick snow on top of Vaasa’s great hall which houses a 400m Mondo track caused the roof to partially collapse. Yet nothing such an opening was going to discourage Finland’s Janne Mäkelä, who ran a time of 50.86 for the 400 metres Hurdles last night. Not surprisingly given that the event is so very rarely run indoors, the mark was an all-time world best. Mäkelä also got the previous all-time-best, 51.01 last year, too. His outdoor personal best is 49.59, which he established last summer.
The men´s 60 metres was won by Simone Collio of Italy (6.70), and there was also an Italian victory in the 200m, by Massimiliano Donati in 21.10.
Heli Koivula, European Triple Jump silver medallist, made her season start in the Long Jump with a leap of 6.38m - only 3 cm ahead of Johanna Halkoaho, who also won the women’s 60 metres Hurdles with a PB of 6.35 seconds.
The brief international indoor season in Finland will continue this Thursday (Feb 13) in Tampere’s Pirkka Hall (300m track), where the men´s 60 metres Hurdles and women´s Triple Jump are expected to be the highlights.
Colin Jackson will try to beat Allen Johnson´s (USA) World Indoor best for the rarely run 110 metres Hurdles. Johnson ran 13.34 in Moscow in 1995, and the best by a European is Dutch Robin Korving´s 13.36, which he set in Tampere in 2000. World and Olympic finalist Robert Kronberg of Sweden will probably be the strongest competitor for Jackson on Thursday.
In the Triple Jump, Heli Koivula meets World and Commonwealth silver medallist Francoise Mbango of Cameroon, and Yamile Aldama of Cuba who recently jumped 14.85 outdoors in South Africa.
The men’s 60 metres and 100 metres will also be good events, with both the European finalist Markus Pöyhönen of Finland, and Morne Nagel of South Africa in good shape.
Antti-Pekka Sonninen for the IAAF
