Boxing | The fate of the Pihla Kaivo-oja coach is still open: “It doesn’t work like that”

Boxer Pihla-Kaivo ditch was one of Finland’s greatest achievers at the Paris Olympic Games.

One and a half years of cooperation with a coach Maarit Teuronen with brought a great fifth place.

“Next, with Maarit, towards Los Angeles. From there, we will take the Olympic medal, which we didn’t get,” Kaivo-oja announced after his quarterfinal match in Paris.

Teuronen would have liked to declare the same with his protégé, but could not directly do so.

“An Olympic athlete of Pihla’s caliber cannot be coached half-time. At that point, my situation was that I should have returned to work as a laboratory nurse at Fimlab at the beginning of September,” Teuronen says.

To Tampere The powerlifting club saved the situation and hired Teuronen as a full-time coach for four months.

“During the end of the year, however, a new pattern must be found for next year, otherwise I will have to return to my civilian job on January 2.”

Also outgoing chairman of the Olympic Committee Jan Vapaavuori took a stand Mira Potkonen In an interview with Yle, Teurosen, who has coached to Olympic bronze in 2016 and 2021.

“It can’t be that Maarit, who has coached an athlete to two Olympic medals, is doing all this in addition to his own work.”

Teuronen was taken from Vapaavuori’s words.

“It felt great to hear that the work I do is appreciated.”

Mere thanks or speeches will not solve the problem.

“I’ve heard from the Olympic Committee anyway that they want to somehow support my and Pihla’s journey in the future as well. It warms the mind, but it is unlikely to solve this issue alone”, predicts Teuronen.

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Coaching a top athlete doesn’t work if you just go through the training sessions and say thank you and goodbye.

Teuronen no longer wants to make any compromises as a coach. Due to working two jobs, he has only had four vacation days this year.

The situation is unsustainable in the long run.

“Coaching a top athlete doesn’t work if you just go through the training sessions and say thank you and goodbye. It’s about holistic training of a person and, when done well, it’s a 24/7 job.”

It doesn’t matter to Teurose how his salary is handled, as long as it enables him to fully coach Kaivo-oja.

“Before the Olympic Games in Tokyo, I was able to coach Potko full-time for about a year. The tripartite Olympic Committee, Boxing Association and Varala Sports Institute were responsible for the financing. Thanks to that, Mira and I were able to train, camp and compete as much and as high-quality as was necessary.”

“I want to get into a similar situation with Pihlanki. Then we can expect good results.”

Teuronen and Kaivo-oja’s final year includes, in addition to the Tammer tournament in Tampere on the weekend, a camp and a high-level tournament in England.

“In November of next year, the World Cup is on the program. Then it’s the next good place for Pihla to measure her level against all the top players in the world.”

“If you want to succeed at the World Cup level, you need to go camping or compete abroad at least once a month. However, I still haven’t been able to make any more detailed plans when my future as a coach is open,” Teuronen says.

Despite the threatening images, Teurose has a strong belief that things will be resolved one way or another.

“My spark for coaching has been rekindled. The cooperation with Pihlan has been so motivating that I don’t want it to end in the middle of everything.”