Frisbee golf | The relationship brought a job offer to the Kaleva Games – Väinö Mäkelä is the first Finnish celebrity in his sport

Väinö Mäkelä is an exceptionally skilled frisbee golfer who has won one SM gold and EC bronze in adults.

Several players in Finland have been able to do this, but Mäkelä has made history elsewhere. He is the first athlete of the sport who has reached the love pages of tabloid newspapers.

The native of Turku has more than 100,000 followers on Tiktok and more than 50,000 on Instagram. She was quite well-known even before she started publicly dating the long jumper The magic of Koilahti with last year.

“When I share my life on social media anyway, it never made sense to hide it,” Mäkelä explains to STT.

The duo’s joint social media publications have been reported, and the latest made headlines Mäkelä’s YouTube videowhere Koilahti teaches long jump.

Koilahti, 24, is a two-time Finnish long jump champion. His outdoor track record of 669 centimeters is third all-time in domestic statistics.

The light entertainment articles have raised the lip of the frisbee golfer.

“Yes, it’s really fun, but you’ve done something right when you’re interested.”

Like it frisbee golf or not, Mäkelä, 24, is one of Finland’s most impressive athletes, especially among young boys and men.

When the 10.fi website investigated who are the most commercially interesting athletes in Finland, the Niskanen siblings were in the top three Kerttu and Ivo mixed Kalle Rovanperä. It was hilly Teemu Pukin 11th on the list behind.

More similar measurements have been made around the world. Last year’s top three were Cristiano Ronaldo, Serena Williams and Lewis Hamilton.

Koilahti and Mäkelä combine more conservative athletics and more innovative frisbee golf. Efforts have been made to utilize this in marketing.

“Through Taika, I have been asked to be a guest at the Kaleva Games. I might have held a meet&greet there.”

The schedules didn’t match, but it showed Mäkelä what kind of attraction he is considered.

Let’s imagine that young people would bring their parents to the stadium so they could meet the frisbee golf star.

Social media is an excellent additional income for a frisbee golf professional. A strong personal brand helps sell pucks, from which the player gets a slice.

Many do other commercial collaborations in order to better focus on what is essential: full-time frisbee golf.

Mäkelä said in an interview a year ago in June that he only does social media to support elite sports.

“However, one must not misunderstand. I’m such a perfectionist that I want to make my content high-quality,” he says now.

“I don’t see the point in something like that, that I would just go to some track and say buy this puck.”

Frisbee golf videos and the sport in general appeared on the Finnish sports map during the corona pandemic. It’s an inexpensive form of exercise, and “who wouldn’t want to watch the puck fly”.

Hilly started making videos in the winter when the virus hit. This allowed him to practice a little until the demand grew enormously.

“I tried a little, how did it feel. Then came the Pro Tour and the holar, and things got out of hand.”

The player refers to the Tampere race of the 2020 domestic tour, where he threw 400 glow plastic with a PA-3 disc hole-in-one on a picturesque fairway.

“I didn’t even realize it at that moment. In the days that followed, I noticed how it was being talked about in sports circles, and suddenly there were hundreds of thousands of views.”

Throwing and discus are by far the best known in Finland. The PA-3 of the production batch in question is such a cult hit that the new specimen has fetched more than 50 euros in resale.

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“I like taking group photos. Sometimes, however, you just want to go toss with your friends.”

The young man identified a market niche, actively created social media content and lined his car with advertising tapes.

“I decided to take them (tapes) to maximize visibility.”

Read more: This is what a hole-in-one looks like: Väinö Mäkelä explains why a hole-in-one is actually a failed throw

Selection it felt right, and I still don’t regret it, even though privacy took a hit.

“People recognize the car in the parking lot. If I went to a new course to play, I could get halfway before I was already searched.”

“I like taking group photos. Sometimes, however, you just want to go toss with your friends.”

This year, Mäkelä is driving a different car and has not wanted to attract the same kind of attention.

“The measure was full, and there was a natural opportunity for change when the car lease ended.”

The Frisbee celebrity has not found the encounters too intrusive. His limit is “so that the paparazzi don’t just sneak around.”

The cries of “Väinö, Väinö” can be heard loudly this week at Nokia, where the second major tournament of the season, the European Open, is being played.

At the event thousands of spectators visited last year, and Mäkelä is a big celebrity for them. You had to wait more than an hour for an autograph.

When there were fewer people there was enough time for everyone. Considering the fans is important to Mäkela, but athletes have their own schedules in a professional event.

“You should be able to eat and recover. Half an hour is a good time for me to share numbers. I believe that the hungriest ones who were left without will come again the next day and earlier.”

The home crowd must really support their own if the power of the United States, the number one country in the sport, is to be broken.

The Finns still lack the prize money of the sport. On its way, Nokia has all the best in the world, for example Paul McBeth and Eagle McMahon.

“I believe that at least I, With Niklas (Anttila), With Jonah (Heinänen) and With Jesse (The promontory) has a full chance of winning if we succeed.”

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“The more often you put yourself in the fight for victory, the easier it becomes to play in those situations.”

Mäkelä played the beginning of the season in the USA against the best in the world. There was a chance for victory at the Open at Austin, which he led after two rounds.

“It was a track that suited me. I have to admit that the Suomi boy started to get a little nervous in the pits.”

From Austin took sixth place, which is Mäkelä’s best of the season.

For a long time, the players of the United States have been engaged in a fierce struggle with each other. Mäkelä believes that experience in tight places gives the desired end result.

“The more often you put yourself in the fight for victory, the easier it becomes to play in those situations.”

Somessa Mäkelä is a happy and cheerful, cool girl who stays on the race track. The athlete feels that the first describes him better.

“I have experienced that strict concentration brings the best result. I’ve tried to bring joy a little, because it’s natural for me and could bring relaxation.”

Perhaps the European open championship tournament, which starts on Thursday and ends on Sunday, will see a smiling Mäkelä.