Athletics | Kristiina Mäkelä celebrated the medal with the team’s experienced guard: “I made a couple of rough, not crying men, cry”

Munich

The triple jump European Championship silver medalist Kristiina Mäkelä said that a strong movement hit in Munich only on Saturday morning, when the previous night’s achievement began to take shape. In the late night final, he jumped a Finnish record of 14.64 and took his first competition medal.

On Saturday afternoon, he arrived in good spirits in front of the journalists before the medal coffees organized at Suomen’s hotel.

“Slept quite well after I went to bed at four,” Mäkelä began.

He said that he spent the evening in a hotel with people who know “what this is”. Later, he detailed the experienced guards of the Finnish team who were companions.

“I made a couple of rough, not crying men, cry.”

Mäkelän the hunger for medals was already satisfied in the evening, but the physical hunger shook in the morning.

“I woke up hungry in the morning. I had eaten the last time at three in the afternoon. I then went to breakfast and tried to fall asleep again, but all kinds of thoughts came to mind. I exercised a lot.”

The medal rotation was smoothed out by the fact that most of the attention on Friday was focused on Topi Raitanen’s steeplechase gold medal.

Mäkeläk also got his share.

“For some reason, I have the idea that I haven’t changed here.”

Mäkelä has not shied away from publicity, but as a prestigious competition medalist, the situation is new.

“There is a small fear of losing privacy. I’m an old conker at the Games, but not in situations like this,” the 29-year-old athlete said.

Hilly already jumped in adult competitions in EC-Helsinki 2012, but was unsuccessful in qualifying. Later on, he matured into a consistently reliable value competition performer and had already jumped six times in the finals before Munich.

Many times, long jumps hit the qualifiers. In the finals, he jumped to the top of the points.

“Every single one of the previous value competitions was an important experience that could be utilized. You need mental and physical strength.”

In Munich, everyone went nuts in the final.

“I may remember flashes. In the last lap, I sat at the end of the pacer and watched the performances of the others.”

He was stuck in silver and no one came by. Ukraine’s Maryna Bekh-Romantshuk had her own meter numbers with a result of 15.02, and Israel’s Hanna Minenko took bronze with a result of 14.45. Finland’s Senni Salminen was seventh in her first final with a result of 14.13.

Hilly has become known as a vocal defender of the rights of track and field athletes, but when asked, carefully assesses how the medal will affect economic realities and thus investment in sports.

“Now we have to continue things. I have a good coach and manager” who nudge me in the right direction.

The last time a Finnish woman took the medal in the jumping events ending in the sandbox in the prestigious athletics competitions was in August 2002, when Heli Koivula jumped to European Championship silver, how about being in Munich.

Mäkelä was only a few months old at the time, only 10 years old. What kind of memories do you have of it?

“Nothing. It might be on TV at home, but I didn’t follow sports much at all. I cycled with my friends and played sports. Those things were important to me. I conscientiously went to school and training,” Mäkelä replied to STT already after his race.