Wrestling|Mattila wrestled SM gold in a surprising weight class.
To Tampere Kooveen wrestler Elmer Mattilaa was more tense than usual in the first match of the WC wrestling on Saturday in Töölö Kisahalli.
“It was such violent drilling. I was nervous for nothing. The guy reminded me that I’m a better wrestler when I’m not nervous. When I became aware of it, I became more open and brisk about wrestling. The last three matches were even fun to play,” Mattila says by phone.
The final result was the best possible: Greco-Roman wrestling championship gold in the 87 kg category.
For excitement there was a special reason. Mattila, 25, is returning to wrestling after a serious illness. In August of last year, he underwent surgery for a malignant GIST cancer tumor in the small intestine. The operation saved his life, because the tumor had blocked blood circulation in the intestine.
“It’s only been a few months that I’ve somehow been able to train after the surgery,” says Mattila.
According to Mattila, everything has gone “really well” after the surgery.
“Now there have been no more problems. Everything has gone as well as you could hope for and maybe even better, knock on wood,” says Mattila.
“Blood values have gradually started to improve, although they are still not as they should be. Based on the follow-up scans, everything in the stomach looks perfectly clean.”
Mattila’s cancer treatments, cytostat medication, will last another two years. Side effects have been moderate.
“Nothing has been completely impossible for me. Places cramp quite easily and recovery is a bit slow.”
Mattila has not cut down on her goals. He plans to wrestle at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
“Now I do two years as well as I can and after that even better. When the drug-free period begins, I will put even more into the game,” Mattila assures.
Own it’s a wrestling class. Before he got sick, Mattila wrestled in the under-67-kilogram category, the SM gold came in the 87-kilogram category. It’s quite a jump, but there is a clear reason for changing the series.
“I was quite big at 67, because my basic training weight is 75 kilos. When there was a break from wrestling because of the cancer thing, I thought I’d let the weight come as much as it came.”
Mattila’s base weight is now 83–84 kilos.
“I could have easily reached at least 82 [sarjaan] and even up to 77, but I went up there, so there was no need to have a good teammate [Artjom Shapovalov, kultaa 82 kilon sarjassa] with in the same series.”
Mattila has not yet decided in which series he will wrestle in the future.
“It’s still wide open.”
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