Olympic medallists passing on the knowledge to young javelin throwers in Vantaa

Seppo Räty feels that today’s javelinists have lost all sense of rhythm

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By Jorma Erkkilä
     
      If the men had been wearing their Olympic, World Championship, and European Championship gongs around their necks the total number of medals would have been be nine.
      If all the personal bests set by the three champions were added up, the javelin would fly 282 metres and 30 centimetres.
      But we are not recalling the past, as Pauli Nevala, Jorma Kinnunen, and Seppo Räty are not on a nostalgia trip, but on the lookout for new Finnish javelin throwers to carry the tradition forward.
     
The first get-together of the Finnish javelin thrower school took place on the sports field of Hiekkaharju in Vantaa on May Day Eve.
      Regardless of the cold weather, about 50 children and teens had gathered to listen to advice from past champions.
      The javelin school started in Vantaa and will continue elsewhere in Finland over the spring.
      ”Lightly and vividly”, Nevala instructed the youngest ones. The rhythm of the last steps is important.
      ”The big drum beats when your front foot crashes into the track, while the javelin squirts out of your hand”, Nevala says.
      ”Well done. It’s worthwhile training all you can. Once one has thrown a thousand times, the technique is right and in the muscle memory”, Nevala encourages a young pupil.
     
In fact, children learn the basic technique of javelin throwing rather fast.
      Already after 15 to 20 minutes’ of instructed training, the throw begins to look right, and as the technique improves, so the throws get progressively longer.
      Children learn fast, but for grown-ups javelin throwing is difficult.
      Nevala is worried, as all the best Finnish javelin throwers have glaring faults in their technique, even though their throws have been polished for many years.
      Tero Pitkämäki has been successful in the past few years, and he has a World Championship title and an Olympic bronze medal from Beijing to prove it, but even his technique makes Nevala shake his head unhappily.
     
Pauli Nevala does not see much light in the tunnel beyond the present javelin throwers representing Finland.
      One should do something fast, which is why the three former champions have got on the move.
      Seppo Räty is as concerned as Pauli Nevala. In his opinion, the Finnish javelin throwers have been following wrong examples for many years.
      ”The men’s throws have lost all rhythm. The precision at the end is lacking. The use of the front or plant foot is essential, and that is what they are not able to make use of now”, Räty sighs.
      ”Taking a dive after the throw is pure show. It does not add any extra metres to one’s javelin throw”, Räty notes acidly. A good many of the top javelin throwers do end up sprawled on the run-up track after letting go of the javelin.
     
”Young athletes watch a top javelin thrower’s technique on a video and copy it. In so doing they fail to find a proper style of their own”, Räty continues.
      ”Many people who have long been working for an athletic club have become tired and have quit coaching. In the old days, young athletes used to get the right sort of instructions from them”, Räty goes on, painting a decidedly gloomy picture.
     
Siblings Petra Uusikumpu, 9, and Sami Uusikumpu, 7, had got excited by Pauli Nevala’s instructions.
      This was the first time for them to try throwing a javelin, and they intended to continue it even in the future.
      ”I will certainly come here again to throw javelin. We live nearby and can come here by bike”, Petra said.
     
The javelin is one of those disciplines that has somehow become indelibly associated with Finns and Finnish athletes, just as long-distance running once was.
      The list of Finnish former Olympic and World Champions is indeed impressive: Finland is the only nation to have ever swept the medals in this event at the Olympics, and has done so twice, in 1920 and 1932.
      However, the country's most recent Olympic champion among the men was Tapio Korjus in Seoul, and that is all of 23 years ago...
     
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 1.5.2011


Previously in HS International Edition:
  All three Finnish javelin men progress to Olympic final (21.8.2008)
  Tero Pitkämäki wins javelin in Berlin Golden League event, despite scare over cramp in his back (2.6.2008)
  Sudden bout of flu complicates things for reigning javelin World Champion Tero Pitkämäki (21.8.2009)

See also:
  Javelin men´s belly-flop epitomises Finnish disappointment with Berlin games

Links:
  Pauli Nevala (Wikipedia)
  Jorma Kinnunen (Wikipedia)
  Seppo Räty (Wikipedia)
  Tero Pitkämäki (Wikipedia)

JORMA ERKKILÄ / Helsingin Sanomat
jorma.erkkila@hs.fi