Tapio Korjus voluntarily wants to “self-destructive rat job” – this is how he reasons

Experienced sports influencer Tapio Korjus63, is so far the only person registered for the presidential race of the Finnish Olympic Committee.

The Olympic javelin champion competes as a candidate for the Finnish Sports Association (SUL).

Korjus is now taking a stand on the failures of the Finnish Olympic Committee (OK) and on the good-friend networks of Finnish sports, to which he himself has allegedly belonged.

Korjus has followed the commotion seen around the Olympic Committee from the fence. He has sat on the board of the organization since 2020 and served as the chairman of the condition expert unit of its elite sports unit.

At the same time, Korjus has led the elite sports institute Kihua.

Tapio Korjusare you stubborn or why on earth are you aiming for the chairmanship of OK, where you will almost certainly get your neck snapped?

“I don’t need to strive for anything anymore, retirement age is only a year away. It’s a self-destructive rat job, which can only be avoided in public if Finland achieves 5–10 medals at the Los Angeles Olympics (2028). But I like challenges. I have an innate desire to lead the changes that are needed to restore the glory of the Olympic Committee.”

Today, the Olympic Committee is considered almost entirely a sports organization and not exactly a top sports organization. Will you sign?

“Yes, it is very much true. The medals-less Games in Paris were a big wake-up call, things are not right.”

How would you change the Olympic Committee?

“I would definitely change the organization again in the direction of top sports.”

What would that mean?

“I would like the top sports unit to have an independent status again. I would make sure that the talents of the individual sports and their coaches would get international level conditions for achieving results. We have a total of about 30 top athletes at the level of excellence in both summer and winter sports, and it is precisely they who should be invested optimally. “

“Furthermore, the status of elite sports would be emphasized in my management speeches. A leader must truly believe in success and demand results, otherwise there is no point in waiting for them. My leadership speech would not only be about encouragement and encouragement, but also about joining forces.”

To be born based on the image, all the activities of the Olympic Committee lack concrete results, and in general the hustle and bustle seems largely like maintaining an administratively burdensome system. What do you think about this and what do you think are OK’s biggest problems?

“I partly have that same image. I was not a big supporter of the merging of the Olympic Committee and the sports organization Valo at the time. In particular, the merging of functions has affected the operations of the elite sports unit. It has lost its independent status, and there are only remnants of the unit’s early operating conditions. That is the main problem.”

But you watched from the sidelines when the current chairman was tackled by top sports in the Olympic Committee Jan Vapaavuoren under the leadership, outdoor activities and exercise became the most important agenda. Why didn’t you do anything?

“Not all work is always visible on the outside. I was involved in fighting for the status of elite sports, and without certain twists, the situation of elite sports could be even bleaker than it is today. But the Olympic Committee now has a strong chairman, and it hasn’t been so easy to push through one’s own goals. It must be remembered that, for example, operatives always sing more or less the songs of their leader.”

In the spring of 2022, it was revealed that Vapavuori had known that Mika Lehtimäki, the head of the elite sports unit at the time, was guilty of sending inappropriate messages the previous year. Vapaavuori withheld the information from OK’s board and gave Lehtimäki a new temporary job. How did the uproar affect the activities of the Olympic Committee?

“The impact was great. After the uproar, the Olympic Committee began to profile itself as an organization that emphasizes the importance of an active lifestyle. Mobilizing Finns is of course extremely important, but yes, for many – like me – the change came as a complete surprise. Before the Lehtimäki incident, there had been no talk at all about weakening the status of elite sports.”

What do you think? are you one of the good friends networks of Finnish sports, to which you are also considered to belong?

“In everything in life, you have to find a certain close-knit group if you want to achieve a common goal. In the herd, someone knows one thing, another another. The word “good friend network” has a nasty and wrong connotation. In reality, it is quite natural that things are pushed forward, especially with the strength of people who trust each other. The final decisions in matters are then made together democratically.”

But good brother networks often give rise to power cliques that start making decisions that benefit themselves more than the communities. Have you used your influence in this way yourself?

“I have always been a supporter of democracy, and I don’t recognize that I have acted that way. If someone has a better idea or operating model, we will definitely go with it. You have to be honest with yourself all the time, so that no unhealthy traits are embedded in the activity.”

We assume that you would be content to please your close circle in, for example, various personnel selection issues. How do you comment?

“I’m a humane and easy-going person, but I don’t have any terrible need to please the environment.”

Should Are all the Olympic Committee’s top sports resources allocated to individual sports?

“There is no need for such a radical change. The Olympic Committee already has enough resources to achieve results, if they are allocated correctly.”

Could you elaborate?

“From the Olympic Committee’s support resources of more than ten million euros, moving people only takes a few hundred thousand euros, because that work is mainly communication, influencing and joining forces – and because that work takes place primarily in the municipalities anyway. So there is plenty to share about top sports.”

“First, we would look at the enhancement subsidies for team sports and the needs of the sports academies, then the remaining resources would be focused on the greatest talents of the individual sports. Investment is needed specifically for the elite sports phase and its threshold. The huge academy network supports talent professionally up to the 18-20 age group, but after that our system fails.”

If you come elected, will the CEO or some other key managers change in the Olympic Committee?

“I guessed this question would come. I can’t be sure of that.”

It is believed that at least the CEO Taina Susiluoto would get departure passes, because you have had strong differences of opinion. How do you comment?

“Taina and I have had our own pain points, but I get along well with her. Taina listens, we do things together. Taina came to her position from outside the sport and at the beginning made mistakes that she would hardly have ended up in if she had already had the same experience at that point as she does now. If I were to be elected, things should be discussed with Taina.”

Your pain point was apparently at least related to the fact that the Olympic Committee canceled the Kihu funding?

“Yeah. The contract was terminated without, for example, me as Kihu’s chairman even being consulted. It pissed me off. Losing around 160,000 euros was a big blow to Kihu, because after that it was not able to send its experts to the field in the same way as before.”

How would you describe your relationship with Vapaavuori, which according to sources you have also spoken against in meetings?

“Our relationship is fine, we can discuss things rationally. In the beginning, there was one phone call where we yelled at each other. However, we got through that too.”