Ari Mannio observes season best Javelin throw at Finnish Championships – Athletics news
With the Finnish Championships concluding on Sunday, August 7, in Turku, the day was highlighted by the performance displayed by the 24-year-old Finnish Javelin Thrower, Ari Mannio. Mannio, the ever dominating thrower claimed his hold over the contest right
from the first round.
By the end of the challenge, he had not only bagged the title for an impressive throw of 85.10m, but also earned a place into the team visiting the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Daegu, which is to commence on August 27.
The only athlete who could stand before Mannio was the young, Tero Järvenpää, who marked another impressive performance of 80.10m. Antti Ruuskanen, the veteran thrower, who had earned a remarkable 82.21m in Saturday’s competition, could only land his throw
at 79.51m and ended the contest for a third place.
Mannio, rightly had the reason to be happy over his performance, as to him, the success clinched by him was no accident and was a result of the technique that he had gotten hold of. The Finnish was of the view that he was going into the event only to win.
Expressing his views, he hinted towards this fact and said, “Finally it looks like I’ve found my technique. Today I had good speed and released the spear in a good position. Of course I’ll fly to Daegu in order to succeed, not just to take part.”
Interestingly, Mannio has never been an impressive performer, as he could not qualify in any senior level competition before, while his junior level record is also just fine. The only crown he can boast of is the European U-23 title, which he bagged in 2009,
in Kaunas. His main rival and former world champion, Tero Pitkämäki, could not appear in the competition as he was not feeling completely fit for the challenge. However, he may give an appearance at the Finnish Elite Games to be held in Lappeenranta this coming
Saturday. Given his performance in the event, his participation in Daegu will be decided.
The Lappeenranta event is not only important for Pitkämäki, but for the entire Finnish athletics squad as after the conclusion of the Finnish Elite Games, selectors will decide upon the final squad for the World Championships in South Korea.
In Saturday’s event, not only Mannio was impressive, but the performance displayed by Roni Ollikainen, the Long Jumper who observed a Personal Best of 8.08m, was also stunning. His local counterpart, Tommi Evilä, who also observed a finish of 8.08m in his
final attempt, just missed the ‘B’ standard for the Daegu event and thus, could not earn his ticket to the World Championships with the difference of a few centimetres.
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