Athletics|Aku Partanen was disappointed, but did not lose heart.
Rome
Walker Brother-Matti “Aku” Partanen finished fifth in the 20 km of the European Championships in Rome on Saturday. The medal was less than a minute away from the Finn.
In the early part of the race, Partanen seemed to be on medal pace, when he started to beat the lead. Coach, walking legend Valentin Kononen blew such a game away immediately.
“I immediately got a receipt from Vallu that now off the top and behind the others. The cry was furious. I obeyed immediately. There was no reason to go to the spike spot,” Partanen said with a laugh.
According to him, the top walker is in a more accurate judgement, and Partase is fine with “cruising” a few steps behind the others.
The leading men ran away from Partase after the halfway point, although he had previously felt that Saturday was his day.
“I didn’t have the chance to be at the top speed, but I feel like I got the most out of what was available. It’s a bit sad that the others were tougher, but I can’t help it,” said Partanen.
As one Partanen, who went into the games as Finland’s medal favorite, was in a good mood after the race, even though the escape of the precious metal was digging.
“I was looking hard for a medal. It was a clear goal in my mind. I already understood on the way that there would be no medal, and I got a feeling of irritation. It would be more sad if I hadn’t been able to squeeze the best out of the day. Now I know that it just wasn’t enough,” Partanen said.
With his French rival By Aurélien Quinion it was crazy at the end of the race. On the last lap, Quinion hit his foot on the scoreboard and received a two-minute time penalty in the stadium tunnel when the caution account filled up in the final meters.
“When he hit his leg, he was left screaming like a fire siren. He caught some more guys, but was stopped at the end. A harsh fate for him”, said Partanen.
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