Olympics | Heili Sirviö, 13, makes it to the Olympics – this is how the Finnish sensational athlete commented on his historic achievement

“Now when the Olympic place is secured, it’s a really good feeling”, Heili Sirviö commented from Budapest on Sunday.

The 13-year-old skateboarder already secured a place at the Olympics on Thursday by advancing to the top 16 in the women’s Park qualifying competition held in Budapest. Sirviö’s final ranking in the race was seventh.

“Heili went through the qualifying line with flying colours. Buoyed by Budapest’s success, I think Heili has moved up ten places in the ranking from 26th place”, coach Jussi Korhonen tells.

22 athletes qualify for the Olympics in each skateboarding sport (street and park).

About Sunday’s final day, Heili says that the races went well and the training before the races was “a pretty fun session with friends”.

When the coach is asked how to possibly celebrate the Olympic place, so by skating.

“They definitely have the ultimate idea of ​​getting to skate with Arisa as soon as possible.”

Australian Arisa Trew won the Budapest race. He is Sirviö’s good friend. However, in skate circles, almost everyone is friends with each other.

“Yes, this is such a mini-society, especially the competitive skateboarding community is worldwide. There are only skaters at the games: judges, coaches, most of the spectators too.”

What does the coach think that Sirviö is Finland’s youngest ever Olympic representative?

“It’s great to be making history, but as a skater, I think that age is one of the other characteristics. That as long as you have the idea of ​​skating, creativity, develop and achieve goals, it doesn’t matter what age you are.”

Sirviö, born in March 2011, will become Finland’s youngest ever Olympic athlete by throwing in Paris at the beginning of August. The previous record was held by a swimmer Noora Laukkanen on behalf of. He participated in the 2008 Beijing Olympics at the age of 15 years and 192 days.

However, Korhonen feels that it is important for Olympic sports that very young people participate, as well as older people.

“It’s healthier to have people of all ages and different backgrounds in the community. And one 50-year-old man, Britannian, also made it here Andy MacDonald to the Olympics”, Korhonen points out.

The browser said Ilta-Sanomen in an interview a year ago that he wants to be the best in the world, and the goal is a gold medal at the Olympics.

Can Sirviö even win an Olympic medal in Paris?

“You have to aim high. Heili has not threatened the swamp. He broke through to the top, this race in Budapest was tougher than the Olympics will be because of land quotas. For example, in the USA and Japan there are more tough than the three that qualify for the Olympics per country,” says Korhonen, referring to Sunday’s seventh place.

of Paris the skating conditions at the Olympics are still partly a mystery, but we have already gotten used to it in the qualifying races.

“In the last weeks before the race, we get the maps from which we can see the shapes. And we already saw one observational photo of the track. We are still doing the groundwork before going to the Olympics, there will be an opportunity to practice on four days at the competition venue.”

Sirviö’s entire family will probably go to Paris, but the coach and father will be on the track Fred.

“As a trio, we will pull these Eurovision songs”, says Korhonen.

Skateboarding participated in the Olympic Games in Tokyo for the first time in 2021. In Tokyo, Finland’s first Olympic representative for skateboarding was seen as one of the sport’s world stars Lizzie Armanto. Now Finland has a representative at the Olympics again.

Is Finland a skateboarding country?

“It isn’t, but if the Finnish people want to take this to heart, it can happen. In Finland, skateboarding has been rejected by the mainstream culture. Finnish popular culture has some strange resistance, but Heili has brought the place to the top with his own work,” says Korhonen.

Heili Sirviö is from Finland, but for the previous eight years he has lived with his family in Australia. He also started skating there during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Four years later, he skates at the Olympics.