Only 13 secure a flight to the Athletics World Championships in South Korea
Despite doubts over Pitkämäki's form, javelin remains chief hope for medals
Sampo Lehtola
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Finland will be sending only a small team of athletes - ten men and three women - to the World Championships in Athletics to be held in Daegu, South Korea from August 27th.
The decisions on the last track and field hopefuls to secure a plane ticket to Korea were made at the weekend, and one name at least caused a few surprises and some ruffled feathers.
Javelin-thrower Sampo Lehtola won an event in Lappeenranta on Saturday with a throw of 83.77 that pushed him into the reckoning past a number of others who had fancied their chances they would be joining Ari Mannio and Tero Pitkämäki as one of the trio of Finns taking part.
Both Mannio and Lehtola are first-timers at this level, but the more experienced Pitkämäki (the Beijing Olympics bronze medallist and 2007 World Champion from Osaka) has been struggling this season, and his form is something of a question-mark.
Nevertheless, the javelin probably offers our best hope of some form of hardware from the World Championships at a time when Finnish athletics is in the doldrums, worryingly close to the European Championships to be hosted in Helsinki next year.
The list of those taking part is as follows, with season's best performances and personal bests in parentheses.
Men:
200 m: Jonathan Åstrand (20.50).
3000 m steeplechase: Jukka Keskisalo (8:26.45, 8:10.67).
High Jump: Osku Torro (233 - indoors).
Pole Vault: Jere Bergius (560).
Hammer: Olli-Pekka Karjalainen (76.54; 83.30).
Javelin: Sampo Lehtola (83.77); Ari Mannio (85.12, 85.70); Tero Pitkämäki (85.33, 91.53).
50 km Road Walk: Jarkko Kinnunen (3.57.18, 3:47.36); Antti Kempas (4.02.37, 3:55.19).
Women:
3000 m steeplechase: Sandra Eriksson (9:49.46, 9:45.50).
Pole Vault: Minna Nikkanen (460 - indoors).
Hammer: Merja Korpela (69.30, 69.56).
The games will be held from August 27th to September 4th.
The decisions on the last track and field hopefuls to secure a plane ticket to Korea were made at the weekend, and one name at least caused a few surprises and some ruffled feathers.
Javelin-thrower Sampo Lehtola won an event in Lappeenranta on Saturday with a throw of 83.77 that pushed him into the reckoning past a number of others who had fancied their chances they would be joining Ari Mannio and Tero Pitkämäki as one of the trio of Finns taking part.
Both Mannio and Lehtola are first-timers at this level, but the more experienced Pitkämäki (the Beijing Olympics bronze medallist and 2007 World Champion from Osaka) has been struggling this season, and his form is something of a question-mark.
Nevertheless, the javelin probably offers our best hope of some form of hardware from the World Championships at a time when Finnish athletics is in the doldrums, worryingly close to the European Championships to be hosted in Helsinki next year.
The list of those taking part is as follows, with season's best performances and personal bests in parentheses.
Men:
200 m: Jonathan Åstrand (20.50).
3000 m steeplechase: Jukka Keskisalo (8:26.45, 8:10.67).
High Jump: Osku Torro (233 - indoors).
Pole Vault: Jere Bergius (560).
Hammer: Olli-Pekka Karjalainen (76.54; 83.30).
Javelin: Sampo Lehtola (83.77); Ari Mannio (85.12, 85.70); Tero Pitkämäki (85.33, 91.53).
50 km Road Walk: Jarkko Kinnunen (3.57.18, 3:47.36); Antti Kempas (4.02.37, 3:55.19).
Women:
3000 m steeplechase: Sandra Eriksson (9:49.46, 9:45.50).
Pole Vault: Minna Nikkanen (460 - indoors).
Hammer: Merja Korpela (69.30, 69.56).
The games will be held from August 27th to September 4th.
Helsingin Sanomat