Sport|Athletics European Championships
Itani was said to have lost his sense of proportion when he talked about the 3-4 EC medals in Munich.
Munich
Sami Itani promised to resign The position of the chairman of the Finnish Sports Association (SUL) if Finland does not get any medals from the World Championships or European Championships in athletics.
In July’s World Championships in Eugene, there was no medal, and even in Munich, Itani had to watch the Finns play for a couple of days with white knuckles before Wilma Murto won European Championship gold in the pole vault on Wednesday.
With his resignation threat, Itani wanted to take a stand on two issues. As a former decathlete, he wanted to convey the message that the sports management should bear a wider responsibility for results in positions of trust.
“During my sports days, I was a little frustrated when the bosses didn’t take responsibility,” Itani says.
Secondly, Itani says that he fully believed in the national team.
“On my own behalf, I wanted to show that I have one hundred percent credit. At no point did I doubt that there would be no medals. When Wilma won, I said that there will be even more medals,” Itani says by phone.
He followed the European Championships in Munich at the beginning of the week and returned to Finland on Thursday. Raitanen’s top barrier gold and Kristiina Mäkelän he looked at the quicksilver at home.
Itani takes no credit for the Munich medals for himself or SUL.
“It would be great to say that the union and the chairman turned the tide. The work has been done on the field with excellent coaching. Euros have been invested in coaching, not just in scholarships for athletes, which caused a stir at the beginning.”
Murto, Mäkelä and Raitanen are athletes who have also been supported by the Finnish Olympic Committee the longest and the most.
Four a year ago in Berlin, Finland achieved only three points. They also went without a medal at the 2019 World Championships and last year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo.
However, the level of results in the World Cup and Olympic Games is completely different from the European Championships.
“The mental state of the Finnish team has changed a lot if you compare it to 2018. Then we have a comforting public discussion and also within the athletics family. The atmosphere has been built together.”
The page began to turn at the EC Halls held in March 2021 in Torun, Poland, where Finland had the best success in 43 years.
Kristian Pulli long jump bronze, Ella Junnila was third in height and Lotta Kemppinen ran 60m silver. Nooralotta Neziri missed the medal by only one-hundredth in the 60-meter hurdles.
“They laughed when I said that Torun would get a medal, but there were three. When I said that there would be 3-4 medals from Munich, it was said that Itani has lost the sense of proportion. In 2024, the number of medals at the European Championships can still be doubled,” Itani says.
Itani, 35, was elected for a second three-year term last fall.
Good atmosphere and professional coaching is supported by SUL’s improved economy. The debts accrued from the 2012 European Championships in Helsinki have been paid.
According to Itani, SUL has made a surplus of 700,000 euros in the last three accounting periods.
“Thanks go to the operational organization, it’s not the government’s fault that the economy has been fixed. The balance sheet is strong, and is a place for strategic reflection on how the funds are used. Shall we invest even more in the next two or three years or shall we invest 20 years from now.”
SUL has a wealthy foundation behind it, whose assets are managed by professional investors. Funds can be invested, for example, in real estate or shares.
Next, Itani is excited to see how Helsinki’s Olympic Stadium will be filled during the match against Sweden on the first weekend of September, when there will be at least three European champions: Murto, Raitanen and a pole vaulter. Armand Duplantis.
“Athletics is the best on the spot. This is just the prelude, I can promise you that. Nothing can stop this train.”
Read more: Sports boss Sami Itani promised to resign if there is no EC medal – HS evaluates which Finns can save him
Read more: Wilma Murto first went through the coaching circus, and this year started with a leg in plaster – the promise that sounded almost unbelievable is now realistic
#Athletics #European #Championships #SUL #chairman #Sami #Itani #threatened #resign #medals #Munich #Games #prelude #promise
