Javelin thrower Pitkämäki’s Sunday injury perhaps not as serious as feared

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Javelin thrower Tero Pitkämäki, who injured his supporting leg in the Finnish Championships in Athletics in the southern city of Espoo on Sunday, believes that the injury may not be as serious as was first thought.
     
”The swelling had already gone down some by Monday morning, and I believe I am already on my way to recovery”, the 2007 World Champion comments.
      The Leppävaara stadium surface was wet with rain, which caused Pitkämäki to lose his footing during his second throw. On conclusion of his effort Pitkämäki fell down on the hard mondo surface and slid forward for about a metre.
      The defending World Champion saw his doctor Jussi Jouppila on Monday afternoon. According to Pitkämäki’s own estimate the injury will trouble him for two to three days.
      “Fortunately I have a hard training season behind me”, the athlete said on Sunday. “If I recover I’ll get to surprise everybody from behind the tree”, he joked.
      Because of his reputation and achievements, Pitkämäki hardly qualifies as a surprise act. Since the 2005 IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki, Pitkämäki has not finished outside the podium in any competition he has taken part in. In Helsinki he finished fourth.
     
On Sunday Pitkämäki lost to two other Finns for the first time in five years. Teemu Wirkkala, who demonstrated excellent form, clinched the Finnish Championship title followed by Antti Ruuskanen, whose silver medal effort earned him a place on the plane to the World Championships in Berlin later this month.
      In Berlin men’s javelin’s qualifying rounds will be thrown on Friday, August 21st. The final is scheduled to take place two days later.
      This means Pitkämäki still has some time to recover. In fact, a mandatory rest might even do the man some good.
     
This year the level of men’s javelin has been mediocre at best. Only Norway’s Andreas Thorkildsen seems to be in a steady 87-88-metre form. On Sunday he took the gold in the Norwegian Championships in Lillehammer with a respectable 88.55-metre throw.
      Wirkkala’s best effort saw the javelin land at 85.84 metres.
      Still, comparing results from two separate event is pointless. In Espoo’s rainy conditions Wirkkala’s nearly 86-metre throw was a class act.
     
To Berlin Finland sends a strong javelin team, all four members of which have informed that they aim for a podium finish. Tero Järvenpää completes the quartet.
      The javelin runway surface in Berlin is relatively soft. Furthermore, the stadium favours lower than average trajectories, which are Ruuskanen’s speciality in particular.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Javelin world champion Tero Pitkämäki takes Sports Personality of the Year trophy (18.12.2007)

Links:
  Tero Pitkämäki (Wikipedia)
  Berlin 2009

Helsingin Sanomat