Pitkämäki rises to the occasion and takes gold in Osaka

Young athletes show promise, but overall result somewhat disappointing

Antti Kempas

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Tero Pitkämäki withstood all the pressure and delivered on the final day of the Athletics World Championships in Osaka. Pitkämäki took gold in the men's javelin with a mighty final heave of 90.33 metres, although his second throw of 89.16 was already enough to hold off the challenge of Norway's Andreas Thorkildsen (88.61) and Breaux Greer of the United States (86.21).
      Tero Järvenpää finished 8th and the third Finnish finalist Teemu Wirkkala was 12th.
     
The result means a huge sigh of relief for Finnish track and field fans and officials alike, as Finland finally gets on to the medals table.
      All credit to the 24-year-old Pitkämäki, who was the advance favourite - at least until a rather disappointing performance in the qualifying round - and who must have felt the weight of several million hopes on his shoulders, but managed to rise magnificently to the occasion.
     
Pitkämäki looked to have killed off the opposition with his second throw, a steepling affair that had the television commentators tut-tutting that it was "too high by far", until the javelin stubbornly failed to come down again before the 89-metre mark. If the commentators had had any doubts, Pitkämäki himself had none: he raised his arms in triumph as soon as the javelin left his hands.
      Thorkildsen, however, was not overawed. The Olympic and European Champion responded with a fine throw just 55 centimetres short of the Finn's mark, and it looked as if we had game on.
      Breaux Greer, the world leader this year with 91.29, was having trouble getting his motor running. He threw 84.31 with his third effort, but this was only enough for sixth place, and by the time Greer managed to better 85 metres on his penultimate throw, Pitkämäki had already laid down another big marker with a heave of 87.72.
     
When Thorkildsen's last attempt came down at 87.33, Pitkämäki knew he had won gold and made up for the disappointments of finishing fourth in Helsinki two years ago.
      Many would have chosen not to throw again, and with all the pressure and adrenaline gone, most would have sent out a mediocre effort and gone looking for a flag to drape themselves in.
      Instead, Pitkämäki wound up for yet another ludicrously high throw that just kept on going and hit the grass just over the 90-metre mark. With three of the four longest throws of the night, this was a demonstration of supremacy, and - jubilantly - of castiron nerves.
     
Whilst he and his coach Hannu Kangas deserve all the praise coming their way, Pitkämäki's achievement does not completely disguise the fact that Finland came out of these games with just one medal and one other top-8 placing, both in the same event. An event, too, that Finns have traditionally been strong in.
      The advance hope had been for a medal and four placings, but a few fancied competitors failed to step up to the plate.
     
This is not to say that there were not also some heartening signs: the weekend saw the women's 4 x 100 metres relay team come within a whisker of the Finnish record, and within a protest or two of qualifying for the final.
      And in the gruelling 50km walk, two young men - Jarkko Kinnunen in 10th and Antti Kempas in 11th - showed that Finland might still have a future in this event.
      Two other youngsters, Minna Niskanen in the women's pole vault and Visa Hongisto in the men's 200 metres, also made good use of their first visit to a major championships.
     
Osaka proved to be a "difficult" venue for the World Championships. Not only were the distance athletes under intense pressure from the heat and humidity, but also the crowds were missing: Japan finally got a medal in the women's marathon, but the Japanese fans mainly stayed away from the stadium.
      No world records were set, which may in fact be a healthy sign: at the time of writing there had been only one doping case announced, in spite of a massive testing programme. The athlete's name and nationality have been held back until next week, by which time the B-sample will have been tested.
     
Actually there might have been one unoffficial world record, as globalisation showed it had spread to the athletics track.
      This was quite possibly the games where the largest number of medals were won by athletes who have changed national allegiances.
      The track and field brain-drain from Africa to the Middle East has been well documented and was prominent in the medals table this time, too, and the United States has also joined in: double gold medallist Bernard Lagat, who emulated Paavo Nurmi's famous pairing of the 5000 metres and 1500 metres, was Bernard Lagat of Kenya at the 2004 Olympics, where he took silver in the 1500 metres, and in Sydney four years earlier, where he finished in third.
      Finland, too, had a naturalised South African in the team, but Frantz Kruger - who was granted a special IAAF dispensation to compete under the Finnish flag just before the games - was not among those collecting any hardware for his adopted country.
     
The Finnish athletes will now turn their attention to defeating Sweden in the traditional Finnkampen meet, held this year in Gothenburg.
      Next weekend's match will offer a chance for those who disappointed in Osaka to show what they can really do.
      The Swedes will be equally anxious to put in a good showing: they had hoped for four or five medals in Japan, but had to be content with just the gold brought home by heptathlon queen Carolina Klüft.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  All three javelin competitors progress to Osaka final (31.8.2007)

Links:
  IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Osaka

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